Baltic are really spoiling us at the minute with four (four!) brilliant exhibitions – all of which we can wholeheartedly recommend.

One of the highlights of the my arty summer is Baltic Open Submission show. Presented in association with Fenwick, it showcases 107 artworks comprising of painting, sculpture, photography, video and more, and all done by artists, makers, self-taught creatives and hobbyists based in the north-east. They were selected from 1400+ submissions and range from the sublime to the bonkers. Don’t hang about though as it finished on 1 September. Elsewhere be sure to check out Middle of Somewhere from Joanne Coates (pictured). She’s a working class visual artist who isn’t afraid to get mud on her boots and feel the wind against her face. Her work – through the power of photography, installations, film and audio – explores rurality, hidden histories, and inequalities relating to low income. ‘Middle of Somewhere’ is a multidimensional collaborative exploration of rural places, people, and the challenges they face (ends 16 March 2025). A real coup for Baltic is Frankie Raffles: Photography, Activism, Campaign Works. This is the first ever major retrospective exhibition of the work of Franki Raffles (1955-1994) a feminist social documentary photographer. It explores, in particular, her astonishing creative output over the last ten years of her life when she was most active (end 17 November 2024). Finally, we have Hannah Perry: Manual Labour, a major new commission that considers motherhood, labour and class. A large-scale installation, developed for Baltic’s level 4 gallery, it comprises film, sculpture, printmaking and sound. Mediated through the artist’s own experience, it looks at the process and transformation of matrescence (i.e. the process of becoming a mother) along with its creative and destructive power (ends 19 January 2025).

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead. Baltic is open Wednesday-Sunday, 10am-6pm. More information on all the above from: baltic.art