It doesn’t start until May, but we’re too excited about Conrad Milne’s new exhibition to keep it to ourselves any longer. Brace yourself for ‘Fragments’.

The pieces in Conrad Milne’s new exhibition don’t have focal points. Instead, they send your eye skittering across the visual signifiers of everyday life: the structures, the buildings, the signs, the symbols. He says: “The work is derived from personal experience, memory, encounter, and thought. The imagery that forms the inspiration for ‘Fragments’ is predominantly taken from the north-east and brings together many disparate and contrasting elements that I encounter, often over prolonged periods of time. Reporting on daily experiences, putting down what I see in unique visual terms.”  The results are arresting and demand closer inspection: all surface, but thrumming with depth. It’s all taking place at the wonderful Republic Gallery in Blyth who continue to punch well above their weight when it comes to cutting edge contemporary stuff. DP

Fragments, 7 May-10 June, Republic Gallery, The Kings Head, 85 Bridge St., Blyth. republicgallery.co.uk