PROJECTS

Simon Oldfield & Associates is pleased to present the 2026 Art & Culture programme at Wolterton Hall, featuring a major solo exhibition by Phyllida Barlow and a solo project by Daisy Parris. Conceived by Artistic Director and Lead Curator, Simon Oldfield, the programme is delivered in collaboration with Guest Curators Clare Lilley and Gemma Rolls-Bentley.

Following the success of Wolterton's 2025 programme, including Sea State, in 2026 we continue our focus on the interaction between contemporary practice and historic architecture. By setting two distinct contemporary practices against one of Britain’s most assured Palladian houses, the programme allows each artist to challenge and reframe the historic environment in different ways. Supported by our partners including Hauser & Wirth and Sim Smith, the initiative further includes our ongoing public programme with the Clay Research Group and an residency partnership with Norwich University of the Arts.

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At the invitation of Tim Marlow, then Artistic Director of the Royal Academy, Simon developed a long-running programme responding to the RA’s major exhibitions through literature, performance and conversation. Presented with Pindrop, which Simon co-founded with writer and broadcaster Elizabeth Day, it brought leading artists, actors, writers and thinkers into dialogue with the Academy’s exhibition programme.

Participants included Stephen Fry, A. C. Grayling, Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Sian Philips, Graham Swift, Ben Okri, Gwendoline Christie and William Boyd, with performances and readings staged in response to exhibitions including Revolution: Russian Art 1917–1932, Charles I: King and Collector, Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse and Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined.

The programme later expanded to include the RA & Pindrop Short Story Award, supporting new writing and identifying emerging literary talent.

It also led to A Short Affair, edited and curated by Simon and published by Simon & Schuster in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Arts, bringing together original fiction by leading writers with newly commissioned works by artists including Tracey Emin.

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In collaboration with the Arts Council England and Pindrop, we curated a nationwide art and literature programme touring major museums across England including Turner Contemporary, the New Art Gallery Walsall, Pallant House Gallery and Tate Liverpool. It involved a series of readings from A Short Affair (compiled and edited by Simon Oldfield) selected in response to each gallery's exhibition programme, featuring actor and Talk Art podcaster Russell Tovey, multi-award-winning British actress Juliet Stevenson, writer Nikesh Shukla, and artist Mahtab Hussain.  

At the invitation of Christopher Bailey, Simon Oldfield curated an art and culture programme in collaboration with Pindrop, responding to their collections over several seasons.

By staging interventions and live performances that referred directly to the inspiration for Burberry’s collections, our programme introduced work by leading artists, writers and actors at Burberry's landmark exhibitions, "Makers House", "Here We Are" and "Henry Moore", in London and Paris. 

In 2008, Simon Oldfield Gallery opened in Soho with "Ascension", which included one of the first solo presentations of paintings by Michael Armitage.

The gallery subseqently moved to East London before establishing a permanent location in Covent Garden, and finally Mayfair. Across a decade, Simon Oldfield Gallery exhibited artists including Eddie Peake, Fiona Banner, Roger Hiorns, Chris Ofili, Katie Cuddon, Juno Calypso, Neal Tait, Jonathan Trayte, Alison Wilding, Mark Titchner and Michael Dean. 

The exhibition programme received widespread critical acclaim and enjoyed the support of various institutions including the Whitechapel Gallery and the Contemporary Art Society through their curator-led tours programme. 

Collaborations included James Long's Spring/Summer Collection Presentation 2011/2012, GQ Style Art x Fashion, and the launch of Pindrop by Simon Oldfield and writer, podcaster and broadcaster Elizabeth Day. 

Image: New Sympony, Carlos Place, Mayfair