Byland’s Super Saga is the first institutional solo show by Hull born artist Jack Pell. The exhibition draws upon the magic of everyday life across history, and is born out of Pell’s personal experience growing up in Hull as a working-class person and all the vibrant complexities that come with that.  

Hull is often described as a city shaped by water. The artworks in Byland’s Super Saga take the regions waterways – the drains, the canals and the estuary – as metaphors to explore its key themes. It weaves together the recognisable, everyday aspects of a city with that which is bizarre and magical.

The exhibition is an attempt to highlight and examine the social history, folklore, industrial heritage and natural landscape of Hull and the East Riding in an imaginative way; as well as celebrate modern and unlikely aspects of popular culture such as fantasy and science-fiction, fairground art, car customisation, scarecrows and model building.

From reimagined replicas of some of Hull’s cast iron bridges including Wilmington and Sculcoates, to puppets named Wyke and Grim, who take on the characterised personas of Hull and Grimsby respectively, Byland’s Super Saga presents a creative interpretation of Hull unseen before.

Download the exhibition guide below (we also offer a dyslexia-friendly version):

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Related events

Exhibition Launch Party

Thursday 2 May 2024
6-9pm
Humber Street Gallery
Free, no booking required

Join us to celebrate the launch of Humber Street Gallery’s new exhibition, Byland’s Super Saga by Jack Pell. Meet the artist, visit the exhibition and share a drink or two.

Performing at the launch will be musician Tom Kay. Tom has performed across the UK as a solo artist, session musician and as part of various bands. You may have recently come across Tom’s newest project Share the Wealth, Hull’s new improvised music night, which Tom is the curator and driving force behind. His other notable appearances include supporting Scott Matthews and Gill Landry (Old Crow Medicine Show), and playing a guitar solo on Channel 4’s ‘8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown’. He has also worked closely with Hull’s own ‘The Broken Orchestra’. Tom’s sound combines gentle singer songwriter sonic with beautifully crafted soundscapes.

Exhibition Tour

Thursday 9 May 2024
5:30-6pm
Humber Street Gallery
Free, booking required

Would you like to learn more about our exhibitions? Get to know Humber Street Gallery with a guided exhibition tour.

Join us to hear more of the stories, ideas, and thoughts behind the work on display at our after-hours exhibition tours.

Byland’s Super Screen-printing Saga

Sunday 26 May 2024
11am-2pm
Humber Street Gallery
Free, no booking required

Visit Humber Street Gallery between 11am and 2pm on 26 May to take part in a drop-in screen-printing session!

Local print maker Misc Print will guide you through the process of pulling your own exclusive Byland’s Super Saga inspired print to take home and enjoy. The workshop is free, suitable for all ages with materials supplied.

Thursday Lates: Simon-Mary Vincent

Thursday 13 June 2024
7-9pm
Humber Street Gallery
Pay what you can, booking required

In response to Byland’s Super Saga, Simon-Mary Vincent has created a new piece of work, commissioned by Absolutely Cultured, and will perform at Humber Street Gallery.

Awarded the Innovation in Business “Most Innovative Piano Music Composer UK, 2023” and nominated for both Innovation & Excellence by Corporate Livewire in 2024 and a Paul Hamlyn Award for Artists in 2014, Simon-Mary Vincent is an Anglo-Hungarian performer and composer of acoustic and electronic music, who has been challenging the boundaries of genre and musical expression with a highly personal language since the early 1990’s.

“Visionary and expressive”, “rich and surprising”, “incredibly individual”, “masterful compositions”, “an immersive experience”, Simon-Mary’s music has attracted praise and radio play from critics as varied as Fran Wilson, Lauren Redhead, Ben Watson, Julian Cowley, Nick Luscombe, Robert Hugill, Robert D. Rusch, Massimo Ricci, Gilles Peterson and Mr. Scruff, and has been reviewed in publications including The Wire, International Piano, De:Bug, Knowledge Magazine, Straight No Chaser, Dragon Jazz, Avant Music News and Jazzwise.

Book here

Exhibition Tour

Thursday 27 June 2024
5:30-6pm
Humber Street Gallery
Free, booking required

Would you like to learn more about our exhibitions? Get to know Humber Street Gallery with a guided exhibition tour.

Join us to hear more of the stories, ideas, and thoughts behind the work on display at our after-hours exhibition tours.

Book here

In Conversation: Jack Pell with Rich and Lou Duffy-Howard

Thursday 27 June 2024
7-9pm
Humber Street Gallery
Free and pay what you can, booking required

Join Rich and Lou Duffy Howard, in conversation with artist Jack Pell, as the trio explore their artistic and creative interest in waterways, estuaries and the sea.

Rich and Lou Duffy-Howard’s Open Bridges project made history in 2017 when all 13 of the bridges over the River Hull were raised, swung or closed simultaneously, as vessels mustered on the River Hull were met on the Humber by powerful 21st century tugs from SMS Towage and Svitzer.

This event also saw the world premiere of the acousmatic composition ‘Moments in Time’ by Hull based BAFTA award winning composer John Stead, which was played to a full house at the Stage@The Dock. Open Bridges was followed by A River Full of Stories, a book, series of films, website and exhibition capturing the stories and memories of many of the 2,000 visitors to the Open Bridges exhibition.

In November 2023, the next chapter of Open Bridges – What Makes The Humber? – explored the confluences and waterways which drain a fifth of England’s water into the North Sea and, most recently, their Goole by Barge exhibition of 60 photographs and three videos took place at Goole Museum and Gallery.