Aesthetica 20 Years Exhibition

16 May 2026—19 September 2026

Aesthetica 20
This year, to mark the milestone of 20 years, we are curating a special exhibition across four sites in our region:Scarborough Art Gallery, Woodend, Mercer Art Gallery, and Skipton Town Hall (recently shortlisted for Art Fund’s Museum of the Year).
The exhibition, The Best of the Aesthetica Art Prize, will bring together 50 exceptional artists to celebrate the scope, depth, and extraordinary talent that has been part of the Prize over the past two decades.
Stars 8 will be on display at Scarborough Art Gallery and Woodend Scarborough (16 May – 6 September)

16 May 2026—19 September 2026

A celebration of Aesthetica Art Prize – two decades of pioneering contemporary art, bringing 50 international artists to four galleries across North Yorkshire.

For two decades, the Aesthetica Art Prize has operated at
the intersection of artistic innovation and cultural dialogue,
establishing itself as one of the UK’s most influential platforms
for contemporary practice. Marking its 20th anniversary, the
Prize presents a landmark, multi-site exhibition across North
Yorkshire, bringing together 50 artists whose work reflects the
urgency and the complexity of life in the 21st century. Rather
than functioning as a single exhibition, this edition is conceived
as a distributed cultural experience, unfolding across multiple
venues and engaging audiences in different locations.

Image Credits: 1. Ellie Davies, Stars 8, 2014 – 2015. 80cm x 120cm. Source material credit: STScI/Hubble and NASA.
2. Àsìkò, New World Giants, (2022). 3. Michelle Blancke, Secret Garden, (2023).4. May Parlar, Collective Solitude, 2018.
5. Julia Fullerton-Batten, Ella Whipp Dance (detail). From Contortion (2021). Lambda C-type print. Dimensions variable.