Essex artist Simon Carter transforms Firstsite’s gallery with From the Landscape, an immersive exhibition inspired by the Essex coast and countryside.

Carter has spent more than 40 years walking, drawing and painting the landscape around him. The exhibition brings together more than 30 acrylic paintings and drawings made since 2020, an early watercolour painted when he was 23, and three new series created especially for Firstsite.

Rather than simply hanging works on gallery walls, From the Landscape uses painted surfaces, installation and sound to create an environment visitors can move through. A 19-metre wall carries 500 monochrome painted sketches, while recordings made by Carter during his daily walks bring sounds from the Essex coast into the gallery.

Carter is based in Frinton and is President of Colchester Art Society. He has previously been Artist-in-Residence at both the University of Essex and Firstsite.

From the Landscape runs from Saturday 19 September 2026 until Sunday 17 January 2027.

Admission is free and no booking is required.

Firstsite is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am to 5pm, Thursday to Saturday from 10am to 10pm, and Sunday from 10am to 5pm. It is closed on Mondays.