Simon Starling: Boat Works

This autumn, Abbot Hall presents Boat Works, a solo exhibition by Turner Prize winning artist Simon Starling. The show brings together nearly all of Starling’s projects in which the boat takes centre stage as a symbol of migration, transformation, and change. 

Starling is known for reshaping objects and histories, using processes of transformation to uncover hidden stories and challenge familiar narratives. In Boat Works, the boat becomes his recurring vessel for exploring environmental, cultural, and historical journeys. 

Key highlights of the exhibition include major installations including Island for Weeds and Houseboat for Ho, works that exemplify this deep engagement with environmental, cultural, historical, and material narratives. 

Starling will also be working with Lakeland Arts’ team of conservation boat builders, to produce a new work – a sketch of which is on display at Windermere Jetty Museum. 

Born in Surrey and now based in Copenhagen, Starling has exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Nottingham Contemporary and Tate St. Ives. 

Boat Works invites visitors to experience Starling’s thought-provoking approach to art, where transformation itself becomes a way of seeing the world anew. 

With thanks to Simon Starling and his studio, and to The Modern Institute. 

Included with gallery admission.