‘Close By’ Exhibition Opens On December 4

November 29, 2025 | 0 Comments

The exhibition ‘Close By’ opens on December 4, featuring work by artists Phoebe Hughes and Abi Box.

A Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art spokesperson said, “Opening on Thursday, December 4, 2025, with an artist reception from 5:30 – 7pm, Close By brings together the work of Phoebe Hughes and Abi Box, two painters whose practices intersect through a shared attentiveness to landscape, flora, and the steady, observational processes that shape their work.

“While both artists’ active printmaking practices initially drew them together, the influence of print appears here less as a direct technique and more as an undercurrent—surfacing in the subtle repetition of forms, the layering of marks, and the sensitivity to light that threads through their canvases.

“Hughes and Box approach the act of painting layer by layer, though often through contrasting working methods: Hughes, echoing the discipline of screenprinting, builds her images through calibrated layers that align with careful intention; Box, recalling the fluidity of monoprinting, embraces a more intuitive process, allowing layers to drift, merge, and find their own edges. Despite these differing approaches, both artists remain attuned to place and to the ways we move through, and often overlook, the environments that surround us.

“Throughout the exhibition, there is also a sensibility in the work that gestures toward what has long been described as a “Bermuda light,” with its glare and flare, its capacity to wash forms out or sharpen them into focus. Box and Hughes allow this light to push and pull their focus, to continually negotiate their subject, their gaze; reminding them to consider, and us to appreciate, what is kept, close, and what passes just, by.

About the Artists

“Phoebe Hughes is a Bermudian artist living and working in London. She graduated with First Class Honours in Fine Art Painting from Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL. Hughes’ practice is deeply rooted in her Bermudian heritage, with the island’s vivid landscapes and culture serving as a constant source of inspiration. Colour is a fundamental element in Hughes’ work, as she naturally gravitates towards creating scenes rich with exaggerated hues. Recently, her practice has evolved to include mixed media compositions, blending painting with screen printing to reimagine the essence of Bermuda through abstract, immersive landscapes.

“Abi Box is a British artist based between London and Bermuda. Graduating with a fine art degree from Camberwell School of Art in London, her work focuses on gesture and mark making. Box’s work is held in both a number of private and public collections including the UAL Alumni Collection, Simmons Contemporary, and Masterworks Museum Bermuda. She has had several artist residencies in Switzerland, Wales, and Peru, and recent exhibitions include: Artist’s Artist at OHSH Projects curated by Henry Hussey and Sophia Olver; Illusion and Abstraction: Capturing the Landscape at Bermuda National Gallery curated by Mitchell Klink; Paper Cuts curated by Kristian Day, Saatchi Gallery, London; The Smaller The Larger curated by Kate Hiley, Sobering Galerie, Paris; as well as having work selected for ASC 40° Celsius and the Bermuda Biennial.”