Sumptuous Exhibition Brighton 2026 opens at Kellie Miller Arts Gallery on 25 April — and the timing feels exactly right.
Running through Brighton’s busiest cultural season until 8 June 2026, this free exhibition brings together two artists whose work asks the same question from very different directions: what does it mean to find richness in the everyday?
Sumptuous Exhibition Brighton 2026: The Concept
The word sumptuous suggests excess — abundance, indulgence, spectacle.
Here, it is reframed.
Curator Kellie Miller uses the term not to emphasise material luxury, but to point towards something quieter: the texture of lived experience, and the value of attention.
Two artists. Two distinct approaches. One exhibition that holds together with clarity and intent.
David Hayward
David Hayward works in encaustic — a process involving pigmented wax applied directly onto panel.
The result is a surface that feels almost geological: layered, textured and incised with mark-making that recalls erosion rather than traditional brushwork.
His works in Sumptuous draw on landscapes from Kent to Greece to the Philippines — a wide geography connected by a shared sensitivity to the physical experience of place.
Escape Route and Safe Harbour stand out not only for their scale, but for the way they invite close viewing.
Here, the surface is not just part of the work.
It is the subject.
Anna Barlow
Anna Barlow’s ceramics move in a very different direction.
Her sculptural works — often inspired by confectionery — appear to melt, spill and collapse across surfaces: icing, sugar, excess rendered in physical form.
Give Me Some Sugar and Four Chambered Heart Vase sit somewhere between playfulness and unease.
They are visually generous, but conceptually restrained — using sweetness as a way to reflect on time, pleasure and impermanence.
The work asks you to stay present.
To notice what is there — before it disappears.
KMA Gallery
📍 Kellie Miller Arts Gallery
KMA Gallery is one of Brighton’s longest-standing independent galleries, located in the city’s cultural quarter.
Sumptuous marks the first anniversary of its move to Church Street — a year that has established a programme focused on materiality, process and the visible hand of the artist.
Kellie Miller — artist, curator and founder — holds a first degree in arts from the University of Brighton and an MA in Arts Criticism from City University London. Her work is held in collections including Brighton & Hove Museum and international institutions in Taiwan and Japan.
The gallery is open daily. Entry is free.
Why Sumptuous Exhibition Brighton 2026 Is Worth Your Time
Brighton has no shortage of gallery shows during Festival month — but Sumptuous Exhibition Brighton 2026 stands out for its curatorial clarity.
Both artists work with material in ways that are immediately visible and tactile. Hayward’s encaustic surfaces and Barlow’s ceramic forms share a commitment to the physical — to work that cannot be fully understood from a screen or a photograph.
This is the kind of exhibition that rewards being in the room. The scale of Hayward’s panels and the presence of Barlow’s sculptures only become clear in person.
Free entry. Church Street location. Open daily through Brighton Festival and beyond.
Editorial Note
Brighton Journal will be attending the Private View on 24 April.
A full review will follow.
Practical Details
📍 KMA Gallery, 3 Church Street, Brighton BN1 1UJ
📅 25 April – 8 June 2026
🎟 Free entry
🌐 http://www.kelliemillerarts.com
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