One of the UK's most accomplished painters, whose work is on permanent display in London's Tate gallery, will exhibit his paintings in Herefordshire's acclaimed contemporary art gallery this summer, alongside work by French sculptor and former fashion designer Nicole Farhi.

Royal Academy member Anthony Whishaw's Experiences of Nature exhibition includes several works which have never before been displayed** and will be on show from July 1 to 29. The exhibition will be the first time four works, including a self-portrait in sculpture by Nicole Farhi have been shown outside London.

Both Anthony Whishaw and Nicole Farhi will open the exhibition in person with a private view on Sunday, July 1 (12-3pm).

The exhibition examines Whishaw's fascination with the natural environment and draws from a body of work painted over the last 40 years. It has been specially curated for Canwood Gallery, which, with its glorious rural setting is an ideal backdrop to display art inspired by nature.

The show will also include a group of works by his late wife, Jean Gibson (1927-1991) and Nicole Farhi, who was taught by Jean Gibson in the studio where Whishaw still works.

Anthony Whishaw has been producing challenging, thought-provoking painting for well over 60 years, calling on the viewer to interpret his warping and skewing of space and form and exploring unusual visual languages and issues of memory and experience. He often works on his paintings over a period of many years, making alterations and additions as he lives with the canvasses.

Nicole Farhi received weekly lessons from Jean Gibson in her London studio and went on to become a firm family friend. She walked away from a hugely successful fashion career to concentrate full-time on her sculpture work more than six years ago, and is showing four works in the Experiences of Nature exhibition including two pieces entitled Pure Force representing her interpretation of herself as a force of nature. The accompanying sculptures depict the hands of fellow artists, one of Anthony Whishaw himself and the other of Scottish sculptor and pioneer of pop art Eduardo Paolozzi, who became her mentor.

These works will be complemented by those of her teacher Jean Gibson whose late work has been described as ‘organic minimalism'. Equally inspired by the natural environment, Gibson's work verges on the abstract and focusses on elements, force and energy. It is known for being physically demanding to produce, created from dense and hard materials.

"Jean changed my life," says Nicole. "Through her teaching, I learned more than expressing ideas and feelings. She opened my eyes on the world around me, as if I was seeing it for the first time, and so helped me to discover who I was. Above everything, she taught me always to be true to myself, to be sincere, humble, and at peace."

At the age of 88, Anthony Whishaw continues to paint daily and is working towards a number of exhibitions to celebrate his 90th birthday in 2020.

Speaking ahead of the Experiences of Nature exhibition at Canwood Gallery, he said: "I am very pleased to be having this exhibition at the Canwood Gallery, which has such wonderful space to show some of my larger works. For decades I have immersed myself in the English countryside in Kent. My work experiments with memory and experiences of nature, painting the intersection of forms and playing with the viewer's spatial awareness. This could be through observing the patterns created by the interplay and overlay of tree branches, twigs and trunks to the constantly changing surface patterns of water. I find nature provides me with a never-ending source of fascination.

"Alongside the exhibition of my paintings I am delighted that in the upstairs gallery at Canwood there will be a group of works by Jean Gibson, my late wife, who was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Arts and a member of the London Group."

Canwood Gallery is already home to the work of world-famous artists including Carl Andre, Barbara Hepworth, Tomokazu Matsuyama and Blake Daniels. It was set up by retired local farmer Stephen Dale who realised a life-long ambition to bring world-renowned art to rural audiences, following his own discovery of contemporary art whilst being treated for cancer in London in the 70s.