John Hurr - Artist

John Hurr's studio gallery sits quietly on the outskirts of Guildford, the sort of place you'd miss entirely if someone hadn't pointed you in the right direction. The artist works across multiple mediums - painting, sculpture, print - and the space functions as both working studio and exhibition area, which means you're often looking at pieces fresh from creation rather than hanging in some corporate white box.

What makes it worthwhile is the directness of it all. You're talking to the person who actually made the work, not reading wall text written by a marketing team. Hurr's practice tends toward the contemporary and conceptual, though the specifics shift depending on what he's focusing on in any given season.

It's the sort of visit that works best if you ring ahead first - opening hours aren't fixed, and you'll want to confirm he's there and willing to show people around. Admission details are similarly unclear, so come prepared to have that conversation when you arrive. Allow an hour if you're genuinely interested in conversation; thirty minutes if you're just passing through.

Geographically, it slots into a wider Guildford area visit reasonably well. If you're basing yourself at Tilford Woods Lodge Retreat - a thoroughly decent lodge park about six miles away - you could easily combine this with a proper walk around Guildford's town centre or along the Wey. Not a destination in itself, but worth the detour if contemporary art interests you and you're in the area anyway.