Julia Ball
Artist
To coincide with the Autumn shows, Liz Rothschild is editing a book to celebrate Julia.
The lovely Out of Light published in 2020 is now sadly out of print. Some elements of that will be reprinted including the essay by Denise Riley. This book will feature previously unseen works and include images from all stages of Julia’s long career.
In addition there will be contributions from:
Harriet Tarlo - poet and academic several of whose volumes have covers by Julia
Jim Robertson - Julia’s nephew, writing about Julia’s family
Amy Tobin - Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art, Department of History of Art, University of Cambridge, Curator, Contemporary Programmes, Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge
Elspeth Owen - potter and activist
Forthcoming book...
Autumn 2026- A double show!
The Old Fire Engine House Gallery, Ely – Wednesday 14th October – Sunday 8th November
The Open Space, Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge – open the weekends of 17/18 October, 24/25 October and 31st October/1st November
A last outing of stunning new discoveries from the remaining collection. Julia showed most years at this lovely, intimate gallery run by Ann Jarman (The Old Fire Engine House Gallery) so this could not be a more appropriate venue for her last selling show for the foreseeable future.
The exhibition running alongside the Ely show, at The Open Space, will be a rare chance to see a carefully selected group of large oil paintings currently held in private collections, as well as work from the archive revealing Julia’s working process.
This makes these events unmissable for those interested in understanding more about Julia’s work.
A recent memory of Julia…
Neil Pattison's essay 'Delicate Smears' is available to read on his substack.
Beginning with the author’s personal connection to Julia, the text goes on to explore her life, work and link to the poetry realm.
Thank you Neil for sharing such a wonderful piece of writing.
Looking Over Time
Autumn 2025 - Looking Over Time, The Open Space, Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge
This exhibition, curated by Ronald Pile and Vilokini Abbott, also included ceramic pieces by Elspeth Owen. Using all the varied spaces that the gallery has to offer, we were able to enjoy large scale works in ink, pastel and paint, small etchings and prints alongside work Julia kept in her own private collection. Boldly and simply presented, often in an unmounted state, they filled the rooms with their intense presence. A completely oversubscribed evening event to launch the show saw Elspeth Owen, Denise Riley and Harriet Tarlo talking about Julia, her work and their collaborations with her.
Looking Over Time, The Open Space (Cambridge), September 2025