A new solo commission at Abingdon Studios, Blackpool, in partnership with Grundy Art Gallery, supported by Arts Council England.
*24 Jul – 17 Oct 2026
Preview 23 Jul, 6-8pm. LIGHT REFRESHMENTS AVAILABLE. ALL WELCOME
*Open thereafter by appointment | FREE ENTRY.
About the exhibition Excavation of a Traitorous Body is Holly Kilner’s first solo exhibition, presenting a powerful new body of work developed through her lived experience of disability and chronic illness. Across paintings, biomorphic forms and repeated motifs, Kilner traces a journey through investigation, diagnosis, surgery, loss and recovery — not as a single event, but as an ongoing negotiation between the body, the medical world and the self. Loss is present throughout — of tissue, of certainty, of familiarity with one’s own body — but so is resilience. Kilner presents recovery not as a return to how things were, but as an adaptive, ongoing process in which pain, memory and healing exist side by side. The interpretation developed to accompany the exhibition will be written in the first person, adding to the reclamation of autonomy.
About Holly Kilner Holly Kilner is a visual artist whose work transforms intimate, embodied experience into a rich visual language of abstraction, biomorphic form and repeated motif. Graduating from Blackpool School of Arts in 2022, she continued on to graduate with a Master’s in Art Gallery & Museum Studies, from the University of Manchester in 2023. Kilner has exhibited in group presentations as part of Grundy Open (2022 & 23); The Manchester Contemporary through Abingdon Studios (2023 & 25) and recently as part of Auto Amor, The Birley, Preston (2026). This marks the artists first solo commission.
About Abingdon Studios Abingdon Studios is Blackpool’s flagship provider of artist studios and project space, founded in 2014. Our ethos is simple: Artists Being Supported. We believe artists do their best, boldest work when they are resourced, trusted and given room to experiment. Since 2014 we’ve invested in commissioning and presenting new work in Blackpool, working with artists at a local, regional and international level, and building lasting partnerships with organisations including Grundy Art Gallery, Showtown, Blackpool Council, and Arts Council England. Excavation of a Traitorous Body is a continuation of that commitment; supporting Holly Kilner to develop ambitious new work, and to present her first solo exhibition through our ongoing artist development partnership with Grundy Art Gallery and with support from Arts Council England.
Access Abingdon Studios is located up several flights of stairs, with no lift currently in place. We recognise the tension this creates in the context of an exhibition about disability and access. It is a tension Holly herself and founder director, Garth Gratrix meets with humour and defiance, seeing the climb as another barrier to make art in spite of, not a reason an artist shouldn’t be exhibited. If accessing the space is a barrier for you, please get in touch via our contact page so we can find a way for you to experience the work.
Last Updated: 5th July 2026 by admin
HOLLY KILNER
Excavation of a Traitorous Body by Holly Kilner
A new solo commission at Abingdon Studios, Blackpool, in partnership with Grundy Art Gallery, supported by Arts Council England.
*24 Jul – 17 Oct 2026
Preview 23 Jul, 6-8pm. LIGHT REFRESHMENTS AVAILABLE. ALL WELCOME
*Open thereafter by appointment | FREE ENTRY.
About the exhibition
Excavation of a Traitorous Body is Holly Kilner’s first solo exhibition, presenting a powerful new body of work developed through her lived experience of disability and chronic illness. Across paintings, biomorphic forms and repeated motifs, Kilner traces a journey through investigation, diagnosis, surgery, loss and recovery — not as a single event, but as an ongoing negotiation between the body, the medical world and the self.
Loss is present throughout — of tissue, of certainty, of familiarity with one’s own body — but so is resilience. Kilner presents recovery not as a return to how things were, but as an adaptive, ongoing process in which pain, memory and healing exist side by side. The interpretation developed to accompany the exhibition will be written in the first person, adding to the reclamation of autonomy.
About Holly Kilner
Holly Kilner is a visual artist whose work transforms intimate, embodied experience into a rich visual language of abstraction, biomorphic form and repeated motif. Graduating from Blackpool School of Arts in 2022, she continued on to graduate with a Master’s in Art Gallery & Museum Studies, from the University of Manchester in 2023. Kilner has exhibited in group presentations as part of Grundy Open (2022 & 23); The Manchester Contemporary through Abingdon Studios (2023 & 25) and recently as part of Auto Amor, The Birley, Preston (2026). This marks the artists first solo commission.
About Abingdon Studios
Abingdon Studios is Blackpool’s flagship provider of artist studios and project space, founded in 2014. Our ethos is simple: Artists Being Supported. We believe artists do their best, boldest work when they are resourced, trusted and given room to experiment. Since 2014 we’ve invested in commissioning and presenting new work in Blackpool, working with artists at a local, regional and international level, and building lasting partnerships with organisations including Grundy Art Gallery, Showtown, Blackpool Council, and Arts Council England. Excavation of a Traitorous Body is a continuation of that commitment; supporting Holly Kilner to develop ambitious new work, and to present her first solo exhibition through our ongoing artist development partnership with Grundy Art Gallery and with support from Arts Council England.
Access
Abingdon Studios is located up several flights of stairs, with no lift currently in place. We recognise the tension this creates in the context of an exhibition about disability and access. It is a tension Holly herself and founder director, Garth Gratrix meets with humour and defiance, seeing the climb as another barrier to make art in spite of, not a reason an artist shouldn’t be exhibited. If accessing the space is a barrier for you, please get in touch via our contact page so we can find a way for you to experience the work.
Category: News & Events, Project Space Tags: Abingdon Studios, art, blackpool, contemporary art, installation, painting