Image: Firstsite, Colchester
Firstsite in Colchester is presenting 'Duncan Grant: Worlds Through Desire: From Drawing to Cruising to DMs', an exhibition that brings together artworks, stories and poetry from three generations of voices to explore how LGBT+ people have sought desire, friendship, community and intimacy across changing times and technologies. The exhibition runs in the galleries at Firstsite from 11 July to 8 November 2026 and is free to enter, with no booking required.
The exhibition places Duncan Grant’s intimate drawings and paintings at its centre. According to Firstsite, Grant worked on a farm in Suffolk in 1916 with his then partner, David Garnett, in an effort to escape the war. At a time when same-sex relationships were illegal in Britain, he made deeply personal drawings that reflected his fluid relationships. The institution says these works were often inspired by Greek and Roman art and were given to friends as expressions of care and affection.
Firstsite describes the project as an immersive visual poem that connects Grant’s work to contemporary art and lived experience. The exhibition includes selected contemporary artworks, newly commissioned poetry, stories of East Anglian cruising, and personal reflections from collectors of Grant’s work, artists, poets and anonymous contributors. It also examines the history of cruising, described on the exhibition page as the practice of seeking connection in public spaces.
The show traces how gay, bi, queer and questioning men, and non-binary people, have built friendships, relationships and communities across generations. Firstsite says those connections have been made in galleries, bars and public meeting places, as well as through cruising grounds, life-drawing groups, online games such as Pokémon Go, social media, and dating apps including Gather and Grindr. The exhibition text frames those shifting spaces not only in terms of romance or sex, but also as sites of friendship, creativity, shared knowledge and community.
More than 35 drawings and paintings by Grant are included, alongside what Firstsite says are never-before-shown drawings that helped inspire major works such as 'Bathing' and 'Venus and Adonis', both now in the Tate collection. The exhibition also features work by Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Jean Claracq, David Lock, Matthew Ansell and anonymous East Anglian artists. Firstsite notes that sexually graphic artworks are displayed in a separate enclosed room with signage at the entrance, and recommends that area for visitors aged 18 and over.
The exhibition also carries a detailed accessibility offer, including large print guides, plain English guides, transcripts, audio descriptions, sensory smell panels of artwork environments, and artworks shown at different heights. Firstsite says 'Duncan Grant: Worlds Through Desire: From Drawing to Cruising to DMs' acts as a second chapter to its 2025 exhibition 'Voyager 2000: Worldbeing & Wonder'. The show is part of Firstsite’s wider programme in Colchester, where the venue says it keeps exhibitions free to everyone and supports community projects through its Mosaic membership scheme.
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