Image: Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
Castlefield Gallery will open 'Disc Unknown', a solo exhibition by Manchester-based artist Joe O’Rourke, on 2 August 2026. The show runs until 30 August and is presented in partnership with Pipeline, following an earlier showing of O’Rourke’s work at Pipeline in London from 4 June to 18 July 2026. The gallery has also scheduled a preview on Thursday 30 July, from 6 to 8pm, and a Saturday Slow Preview on 1 August.
According to the gallery, 'Disc Unknown' is an exhibition of mixed-media paintings that respond to each gallery space. The work will be presented differently across the two venues while remaining conceptually unified, with O’Rourke examining how meaning is constructed within painting through shifts in scale and the use of varied materials, found objects and text. The exhibition brings together his ongoing series of DVD-case works with larger wall-based and freestanding pieces, and is described as guiding viewers through recurring motifs, texts and materials.
The project also reflects O’Rourke’s interest in the way painting can function as both image and environment. In the gallery’s material, he says the exhibition will unfold across both spaces, with the Pipeline show acting as a precursor and the Castlefield Gallery presentation expanding on it. At Castlefield, he is making two site-specific works in response to the window space and the double-height wall, working in sections and using digital mockups to test the work at scale.
Castlefield Gallery says O’Rourke’s proposal was selected through an open call as part of its Castlefield Gallery Associates programme. The gallery describes the scheme as one intended to support artists with career-development opportunities, and the selection process attracted a record number of submissions from members. The current exhibition is being framed as part of the gallery’s wider commitment to amplifying emerging artists.
The artist’s biography on the exhibition page identifies him as a Manchester-based artist and teacher born in 1995. It notes that he graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2017 and was a prize-winner in the John Moores Painting Prize in 2018. The page also states that he began the collaborative painting project 'Painters Posting Paintings' in 2019 and has taught at Edinburgh College of Art, Manchester School of Art and the University of Greater Manchester.
The exhibition information lists opening hours as Wednesday to Sunday, 12pm to 5.30pm, at Castlefield Gallery, 2 Hewitt Street, Manchester. The gallery’s website also notes that the exhibition will run from 2 August 2026 to 30 August 2026, with free admission to the preview and advance booking requested for preview events.
