The first comprehensive solo exhibition of Irish artist Isabel Nolan’s work in the UK to date. This major touring exhibition comes at a significant moment in Nolan’s career as she represents Ireland at the 61st Venice Biennale (until 22 November 2026).

The exhibition encompasses works from 2005 up to 2025, and includes painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography and tapestry.

Launching at Southwark Park Galleries, London, on 15 August – 1 November 2026 it then travels to Bluecoat, Liverpool in 2027.

Nolan’s powerful work makes the case that art can go beyond merely documenting the world, asking us also to look to our place in the universe. Her interest in a variety of viewpoints; historical, scientific, and the spiritual offers a sweeping perspective beyond our present situation.

Using traditional materials such as painting, steel, pencil and textile, Nolan’s work confronts the viewer with a rich aesthetic and urges them to think beyond the here and now, and to look to the vastness of the cosmos.

some fundamental forces is co-commissioned by Southwark Park Galleries, London, and Bluecoat, Liverpool. 

some fundamental forces is generously supported by Culture Ireland, the Paul & Louise Cooke Endowment, Henry Moore Foundation, Arts Council England, and the Southwark Park Galleries’ Donor Circle (Sarah Elson, Bob Pain, Sigrún Davídsdóttir, Kerlin Gallery).

The exhibition will continue at Bluecoat, Liverpool (28 January – 3 May 2027) launching their centenary programme, celebrating their status as the UK’s first art centre, preceding the Liverpool Biennial 2027.

Isabel Nolan: some fundamental forces is curated by Judith Carlton, Director, Southwark Park Galleries.

Artist Bio

Isabel Nolan (b. 1974, Dublin, Ireland; based in Dublin, Ireland) has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions at Kunst-Station Sankt Peter Köln, Cologne, Germany (2025); Château La Coste, Aix-en-Provence, France (2023); Void Gallery, Derry, Northern Ireland (2022); Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Ireland (2021); Kunstverein Langenhagen, Germany (2018); London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE, London (2017); Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2017); Kunstverein Graz, Austria (2017); Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, and Mercer Union, Toronto, Canada (2016). Her work has also been exhibited at the 13th Liverpool Biennial (2025); Salzburger Kunstverein, Austria (2021); and EVA International, Limerick (2018). In 2026 she will represent Ireland at the 61st Venice Biennale, Italy, with The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art, Dublin.