Joe Woodhouse Retrospective at Abject Gallery

8 October - 31 October 2025
Wed - Sat, 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Preview: 3 October 6:00pm - 8:00 pm
Symposium: 25 October

We are pleased to announce the first retrospective of Joe Woodhouse’s work at Abject Gallery, Sunderland
8 October - 31 October 2025.

The exhibition will feature key artworks from our archive, tracing the trajectory of his artistic practice, including early photographic works of his carefully constructed architectural structures for which he became known. 

These will be shown alongside later drawings, sketchbooks, notes and plans, offering a unique insight into his working processes.

The works on display foreground Joe’s engagement with ideas of the replica and reproduction, approached through architectural and cinematic modes of making. In his recreated urban settings, which incorporate multiple stages of reconstruction and replication, the works explore the interplay between the real and the fabricated and prompt reflection on both collective and personal experiences of the built environment, as well as the ways in which such structures function as mnemonic devices. The later drawings and large-scale prints echo his early works while extending the focus to the processes and modalities of art making.

This exhibition, and the symposium which will be held at the gallery on 25th of October is part of a series of commemorative events across galleries and cultural venues in the north east of England that are supported by NAFAE. Together, these celebrate Joe’s work and continue the conversations he cared deeply about in art and design education, creating spaces for reflection, learning and discussion. Further details about the symposium will be available from the gallery closer to the date, and more information on the series can be found at From the Foundations.