Curated by David Remfry RA and art historian James Russell, our summer exhibition, ‘Dance Out’ brings together paintings, drawings and film across decades of dance culture – from 20th century London and New York to Bristol’s contemporary nightlife. 

Five of Amy Dury’s paintings work feature in the exhibition. Working from found imagery, Amy creates richly coloured and often emotionally ambiguous works that take on a life of their own. We caught up with Amy Dury to discusses vintage references, power dynamics, and Kate Bush in this exclusive interview:

Your work in Dance Out has such a distinct, nostalgic texture. Can you tell us about the reference materials you use and how they help you explore human relationships? 

My paintings focus mainly on power dynamics and relationships between people and often the things that we inherit from the past. I use a lot of vintage reference, maybe from old photographs or home movies.  

But for three paintings in particular, I got the references for these from a set of graphic design reference books called the Fairburn Figures. I was just looking them up on my phone actually, so I can show you. 

So, there is a lovely set of books that show figures in motion doing different activities in different clothes. I’ve got loads of good references from them, and I love these images of the man and the woman dancing. 

I've jiggled them about a little bit and obviously I chose my own colours and my own textures, but really it's something to do with dancing around each other, the relationships between men and women, the power dynamics between the two genders. 

In what ways do power and gender influence your work? 

I'm very interested in power dynamics between men and women and the subtle ways that they play out. Those titles are referring to a sort of a law of nature that some people hang on to, to believe in, to think there's a certain way that the genders should behave. And I guess I'm thinking about how we challenge that or how modern thinking is different from that old way of thinking about the genders. 

Why is dance the perfect subject matter for exploring power dynamics? 

Well, I think dance is one of the perfect subject matters because, within dance, there is a metaphor for relationships. There are no words needed in dance. You’re seeing the relationship between two people, the power between them, and the energy between them in motion. So it’s a beautiful thing to paint from and to watch in performance as well. It’s going to tell you a lot about human behaviour just by looking. 

Do you dance? 

In my kitchen, yes. Kate Bush is my all-time favourite. 

About Dance Out

Dance Out is open at the RWA until 9 Aug 2026

Click here find out more about the exhibition and the programme of events and actvitites happening throughout the Summer. 

Images Credits

Amy Dury, 2026 photographer Alastair Brookes/KoLAB Studios

Dance Out, 2026, photographer Alastair Brookes/KoLAB Studios

Soft Authority, 2026, Amy Dury, photographer Alastair Brookes/KoLAB Studios