An exhibition of works by Audrey Amiss, entitled ‘Kitchen Sink Realism’, is the first exhibition to take place at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art’s new home at Culture House in Sunderland.

The inaugural exhibition at the NGCA’s new home is all kinds of fabulous and marks a homecoming for one of the region’s most distinct mid-century artistic voices. Born in Fulwell in 1933, Audrey Amiss (who died in 2013) built a vast, expressive body of work that intimately charted the everyday world around her—capturing everything from domestic interiors and local streetscapes to personal ephemera and daily meals. ‘Kitchen Sink Realism’ brings together previously unseen paintings, drawings, and archival materials that trace Amiss’s trajectory from her early studies at Sunderland College of Art and the Royal Academy Schools to her later life in London. The show’s title nods directly to her self-described connection to the mid-century British “kitchen sink school” of social realism, a movement celebrated for turning a lens on ordinary, unglamorous working-class life. By placing Amiss’s raw, observational practice at the centre of NGCA’s dynamic new venue, the show highlights both a major reclamation of an overlooked local talent and a statement of intent for Culture House. It is a compelling, highly personal exhibition that really does kick off the gallery’s next chapter in style.

Kitchen Sink Realism, until 17 January, NGCA, Culture House, Sunderland, sunderlandculture.org.uk