The Noise of Time

The Noise of Time brings together more than 30 years of Ian Friend's artistic practice. The exhibition includes works from 1993 to work made from his Ipswich studio in 2026.

Throughout his career, Friend has drawn inspiration from literature, poetry, philosophy, music, and the natural world. Presenting works from different stages of his life, the exhibition reflects on the passage of time, connecting the energy and ambition of youth with the insight and experience gained over decades.

Friend's art explores the ways our lives are shaped both by what we gain and what we lose. While we often expect meaning to come from new experiences and achievements, it can also be found in absence, memory, and change. His creative process mirrors these ideas. Over periods that can span months or even years, he embeds ink, gouache, watercolour, and crayon into paper, then removes and reworks these through repeated cycles of building up and erasing. A desire to reinvent and challenge a more traditional practice of works on paper is constant in Friend's work, where paper is not only a base to create on, but intrinsic to the work's state of being.