The_Stratford_Gallery

25/09/2026

18/09/2026

The w**e is chilling and we can't wait to share these new collections by A-S Rope and Stephen Lavis from 3pm tomorrow in our Gallery in Broadway where we very much look forward to welcoming you. If you can't make it to Broadway, both collections are now available to view via our website.

14/09/2026

Gratitude
132 x 102 cm
Oil on canvas with oil stick

Part of Stephen Lavis’ new collection ‘Cinnamon Tones’ developed following a month spent travelling through Sri Lanka at the beginning of this year.

The exhibition opens in Gallery this Saturday at 3pm when Stephen will be in attendance to talk about this new body of work. We very much look forward to welcoming you!

06/09/2026

Stephen Lavis
Cinnamon Tones
102 x 132 cm ( framed )
oil on canvas

There is always something particularly interesting about seeing an established artist encounter an experience that influences, even slightly, the visual language for which we know them. In Cinnamon Tones, Stephen Lavis presents a new collection of paintings developed following a month spent travelling through Sri Lanka at the beginning of this year.

These are emphatically not paintings of Sri Lanka. There are no conventional landscapes or travelogue observations. Instead, Lavis has allowed the experience of the country — its extraordinary shifts in colour, climate, architecture, landscape and history — to filter into the abstract vocabulary he has spent many years refining. Familiar elements remain: shape, line, balance, colour and the extraordinary precision of his painted edges. But there is also something different. The palette has shifted, forms have altered and, at times, the compositions feel less settled, as though this new visual experience has introduced a productive tension into his work.

It is this meeting of the familiar and the unexpected that makes Cinnamon Tones such an interesting exhibition for us. Lavis has not abandoned the economy and discipline that characterise his painting; rather, he has found new material with which to test them. The result is a collection that remains unmistakably his own, while allowing us to see his practice moving forward.

We are delighted to welcome Stephen back to the gallery for the opening of Cinnamon Tones from 3pm on Saturday 19 September, when he will be here with us in person. We very much hope you can join us.

06/09/2026

30/08/2026

It has been a particularly wonderful week at the gallery, with visitors travelling from across the country to spend time with Yoca Muta’s solo exhibition, The Gaze of Fire.
The response to the exhibition, and to the individual works by Yoca san within it, has been deeply moving — prompting moments of genuine emotion from visitors, and also thoughtful, often unexpected conversations. It has been especially wonderful to watch and listen to visitors admire both her remarkable technical ability and artistic brilliance evident throughout the exhibition, and to see the close attention given to the extraordinary detail and craftsmanship within each work.
As a gallerist, there’s something particularly rewarding about seeing an exhibition experienced in this way: slowly, attentively, and with such appreciation for the skill and vision behind the work. Both we and Yoca san are very grateful to everyone who has made the journey to visit, and to those who have taken the time to share their thoughts and responses with us.
The Gaze of Fire continues at the gallery until 5 September.

30/08/2026

It has been a particularly wonderful week at the gallery, with visitors travelling from across the country to spend time with Yoca Muta’s solo exhibition, The Gaze of Fire.
The response to the exhibition, and to the individual works by Yoca san within it, has been deeply moving — prompting moments of genuine emotion from visitors, and also thoughtful, often unexpected conversations. It has been especially wonderful to watch and listen to visitors admire both her remarkable technical ability and artistic brilliance evident throughout the exhibition, and to see the close attention given to the extraordinary detail and craftsmanship within each work.
As a gallerist, there’s something particularly rewarding about seeing an exhibition experienced in this way: slowly, attentively, and with such appreciation for the skill and vision behind the work. Both we and Yoca san are very grateful to everyone who has made the journey to visit, and to those who have taken the time to share their thoughts and responses with us.
The Gaze of Fire continues at the gallery until 5 September.

26/08/2026

Yoca Muta
Mountain Pigeon Vessel Form, 2026
Ceramic with overglaze enamels
25 × 21.9 × 24.2 cm
Part of our current exhibition Yoca Muta: The Gaze of Fire.
We first introduced Muta san’s work to the UK in 2019, and it has been a pleasure to follow the development of her practice ever since. This new exhibition brings together a particularly strong group of works, including this beautiful Mountain Pigeon Vessel Form.
Muta san’s ceramics are immediately recognisable for the extraordinary quality of their painting, but it is the relationship between the painting and the form that makes the work so compelling. Her compositions follow the curves and contours of each vessel, with areas of unpainted surface playing just as important a role as those cloaked in her enamel pigments.
The exhibition includes a significant number of wood-fired pieces adorned with Kutani overglazed enamel painting, made using a restored kiln near her studio in Ishikawa. Here, fire, ash and atmosphere become part of the process, introducing an element of unpredictability into the work.
Yoca Muta: The Gaze of Fire is currently on view at The Stratford Gallery, Broadway.