Image: Watts Gallery, Compton
Watts Contemporary Gallery in Compton, Surrey, will present ‘A New Paradise’, an exhibition of new prints and paintings by five contemporary artists responding to the poetry, design principles and ideas of William Morris. The exhibition opens on 17 September 2026 and runs through 15 November.
Elizabeth Bessant, Claire Worthington, Julia Timmins, Celia Lewis and Louise Atkinson will each reinterpret Morris’s idea of paradise for the 21st century. The presentation is described as an exploration of the relationship between beauty, the natural world and the handmade—concerns that shaped Morris’s writing as well as his work in textiles, wallpaper and design.
Morris first achieved recognition with ‘The Earthly Paradise’, an epic poem drawing on Classical and Norse mythology, published between 1868 and 1870. His interest in beauty extended beyond literature, informing his politics and his belief that art and craft were essential parts of everyday life. In ‘The Beauty of Life’ (1880), Morris wrote that beauty was “no mere accident to human life” but “a positive necessity of life.”
The exhibition’s title and premise develop this connection between poetry and the visual arts. According to the gallery, the participating artists share Morris’s vision while considering it in relation to contemporary concerns surrounding mass production, disposability and the beauty and fragility of the natural world. The show does not reproduce Morris’s historical designs; instead, it presents new work that uses his notion of ‘Paradise’ as a framework for contemporary interpretation.
The listed works include Elizabeth Bessant’s ‘Parakeet and Hibiscus’, Claire Worthington’s ‘Indian Love Birds’, Julia Timmins’s ‘Wagtails and Wisteria’, Celia Lewis’s ‘Montbretia Anemones’ and Louise Atkinson’s ‘Heterotopia’. The gallery’s wider programme provides a direct institutional context for the exhibition: Watts Gallery is also presenting ‘The Art of Wallpaper: Morris & Co.’, which runs from 21 May 2026 to 10 January 2027 and includes more than 30 original wallpapers from the Morris & Co. archives.
Watts Gallery’s Morris programme also connects the designer’s work with the institution’s own Arts and Crafts history. The gallery site includes the former home and studios of George and Mary Watts at Limnerslease, as well as Watts Cemetery Chapel, designed by Mary Watts. ‘The Art of Wallpaper: Morris & Co.’ further explores links between William Morris, May Morris and artists associated with Watts Gallery, including George Frederic Watts, Mary Watts and the De Morgans.
‘A New Paradise’ will be shown at Watts Contemporary Gallery from 17 September to 15 November 2026. Entry is free, and all works in the exhibition are available for sale. The gallery notes that the exhibition is located above the Shop at the Watts Gallery site in Compton.
