T W O S I N G E R S O N E S O N G

Jackie Askew | Sheila Vollmer

G2 | 24 April - 10 March

Two Singers One Song is an exhibition and artistic collaboration featuring painting and drawing by Jackie Askew and sculpture by Sheila Vollmer. Grounded in their shared language of abstraction, the exhibition highlights the relationship between their artwork and creative processes: 'Each of our respective art practices is distinct in its unique use of abstract construction, made independently in our studios. Yet, there is a clear sense of harmony in our visual languages that unites our work’.

Both artists explore fundamental elements of form, line, colour, surface, energy, and rhythm. Through a material-led practice, they express their experiences of space—whether architectural, poetic, or organic—creating a visual rhythm that guides the viewer in, out, and around their work.

In Two Singers One Song, their vision is to spark dialogue and synergy between their pieces, connecting them within the gallery space of the Lido Stores. They aim to invite conversation about how abstract sculpture and painting communicate through visual language, material, and space, as well as how they reflect our ever-changing world and personal experiences.

Jackie Askew and Sheila Vollmer first met at St. Martin's School of Art, London in the late 1980s, both having moved there to study from their home countries of Ireland and Canada. A strong creative link formed between these two artists and friends, leading them to establish and work for several years at a studio complex in Forest Hill, South London. Currently working in two separate countries, Ireland and U.K., they continue to communicate and exchange similar concerns in their work, often uncovering unexpected parallels on the occasions when they exhibit and collaborate.

Please email The Lido Stores at thelidostores@gmail.com for a copy of the exhibition catalogue.

S A L O N 03.25 | G1

The Lido Stores

Open Wednesday to Saturday

Described by one visitor as a curation ‘steeped in tradition but with an anarchic edge’, Gallery 1 features painting, prints, works on paper and sculpture by a carefully selected group of emerging and established artists. Selected and curated by gallery owner Kristen Healy, the work displayed changes frequently and reflects her passion for contemporary painting.

Expect a wide selection of contemporary art by over 30 resident artists, including Emily Stevens, Susan Montgomery, Lee Johnson, Lisa Ivory, and Charles Williams, to name a few.

We feel strongly that art has the capacity to enrich and reward, and, with this in mind, we are passionate about democratising contemporary art. We welcome questions, laughter and conversation around the work- no false solemnity or elitism here.

Exhibition Programme

Spring 2025

  • Two Singers One Song

    Jackie Askew & Sheila Vollmer

    24 April - 10 May

    Two Singers One Song is an exhibition celebrating the work of sculptor Sheila Vollmer and painter Jackie Askew: two artists who live and work in different countries, Ireland and England. 

    This exhibition features small sculpture, painting and drawing; exploring line, space, colour, surface, energy and rhythm, each artist responding to the transformative nature of their materials. 

    The concept of this exhibition derives from their shared language of abstraction combined with their shared energy and passion for the physicality of creating, highlighting how abstract sculpture and painting speaks to many through its visual language, use of material and space, and how it reflects our ever changing world and personal experiences.

  • In the Middle Somewhat Elevated

    Julia Warr

    15 - 31 May

    Inspired by 20 year old Erin McNeice climb for GB at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the young athletes breakaway young talent became the embodiment of both the arc of determination, agility and sheer grit needed for extreme sport and the struggle to escape an otherwise average life. Julia Warr is painting a feeling.

    The coloured pieces of canvas hang in conspiratorial proximity to each other. Steps and hand holds providing a means of escape. Bulbous blocks of colour gives them a solidity and a presence, much like building a lego wall from a bucket of bricks. Falling, failing, getting up and reaching the summit is an allegory for the act of painting itself.

  • The Sunset Speaks Loudly of Days

    Jack Shearing - Lido Open 2025 Winner

    5 - 28 June

    ‘The silence on the floor of my house

    Is all the questions and all the answers that have been known in the world
    The sentimental furniture threatens the peace
    The reflection of a sunset speaks loudly of days’ - Agnes Martin

    Jack Shearing presents a new body of work at Lido Stores in his first solo exhibition, The Sunset Speaks Loudly of Days.Working from observation and memory, Shearing’s paintings capture the atmosphere of his immediate surroundings, often revisiting windows, interior spaces, and landscapes as recurring motifs. Drawn to the gloaming hours—the fleeting time between day and night—his work meditates on the transient and cyclical nature of experience. His paintings evoke the subtle interplay of light and space, capturing moments of quiet contemplation.