Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley have worked together designing and making furniture and other functional woodwork for over 30 years. The scope of their work ranges from the small and domestic to monumental outdoor pieces. By the time the partnership began Jim had already established a reputation for his vessels and small scale furniture.
Initially they worked on outdoor projects, building public seats, footbridges, and shelters. They have always said that their intention was to make “work with a strong but quiet presence in the landscape”. This statement remains true, even though they have broadened that landscape to include built environments.
Projects include an altar for Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, seats for Compton Verney Art Gallery, RHS Wisley and Warwick University, furniture for Ruthin Crafts Centre, a bridge in North Wales and the large Ridgeons seat in CB1 Cambridge and, more recently a series of work for the Harley Gallery at Welbeck, Nottinghamshire which involved a redesign of the reception area, seating for inside and outside the new gallery to house the Portland collection, and outdoor cafe furniture.
Alongside their site-specific commissioned work their studio furniture, much of which is carved from blocks of green oak, often scorched and polished to a lustrous black finish, regularly appears in exhibitions and is in public collections across the world, including the V&A in London, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and Manchester Art Gallery. The work has twice been shortlisted for the Jerwood Furniture prize.
“THE SWIRL” – PAINTINGS & DRAWINGS OF MANI NEJAD Berlin and London based artist Mani Nejad has been developing his Brain Blitz series over a period of several years. It’s a comprehensive suite of delicate works weaving together various media …
Adam Pendleton – A Microhistory of Marks and Impressions The Langen Foundation in Neuss, Germany, is shortly coming up with “Can I Be?” by Adam Pendleton, a major solo exhibition that explores abstraction, language, and history—examining how these forces converge in unlikely and poetic ways. Pendleton, a central figure in contemporary American…
JAMES TURRELL AT THE AARHUS ART MUSEUM The largest Skyspace installation ever built by the artist James Turrell for a public institution will open at Denmark’s ARoS Aarhus Art Museum on June 19, 2026—just in time for the summer solstice. Since the 1960s, Turrell has been exploring…