SURELY Malcolm Ludvigsen cannot find yet more art spaces for his landscapes and nudes?

Wrong! The ceaselessly prolific York professor says he has started two exhibitions that he describes as “unexpected” – although “unexpected” is not a word normally associated with our city’s most ubiquitous artist.

“The first is at Auden House, in St Anne’s Court, York, and is called Local Landscapes,” says Malcolm.

“Auden House, by the way, is an apartment complex run by the York Housing Association, which provides accommodation and support for those aged over 55 who want to carry on living independently.

“It’s a very nice place with all sorts of facilities including a café and computer room, both open to the public, and has a large entrance area with good lighting that’s ideal for art exhibitions. “Bar Lane Studios have taken advantage of this and are arranging a series of exhibitions there, run in conjunction with Auden House.”

Malcolm’s exhibition, on show until July 30, consists of landscapes painted near York, mostly by the river and on Walmgate Stray, only a stone’s throw from Auden House.

“In order to give it a bit of variety, I’ve also included one or two of my nudes,” he says. “After some objections in the past, I’ve been a bit cautious about exhibiting these, but older people – those who spent their formative years in the 1960s – tend, in my experience, to be more liberal and open minded than their younger contemporaries, so perhaps my nudes will have a more appreciative audience at Auden House.”

His second show, Recent Seascapes, is at the Hare’s Leap café and farm shop at Flatts Farm, Coastal Road, just north of Scarborough, again running until July 30.

“As the title suggests, it’s an exhibition of my more recent seascapes and beach scenes, mostly done at Scarborough, Filey and Bridlington, all painted en plein-air,” says Malcolm.

“Though the exhibition isn’t in York, it does have York connections. Claire Turner-Winston, the café owner, once owned the Blake Head bookshop and cafe on Micklegate. She sold the business about seven years ago and moved to near Scarborough, where she’s now opened a café in a very similar style.”

Malcolm has fond memories of the Blake Head café, now sadly closed, because it played host to his very first exhibition and many subsequent shows besides.

“So it came as a pleasant surprise when Claire contacted me and asked me to have an exhibition in her new café by the seaside.”

Opening hours at Auden House and Hare’s Leap Café are Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm.