Caption: Three of the works by Gary Hume which will be on display at Leeds Art Gallery
(mandatory credits from top 'Four Feet in the Garden', 1995 courtesy Gary Hume and Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, second image 'American Tan VI',2006-07 courtesy Gary Hume, and lower image 'Baby Bird I', 2008 courtesy Gary Hume and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York)
A major exhibition by one of Britain’s leading contemporary artists Gary Hume is being premiered at Leeds Art Gallery next week.
The exhibition entitled ‘Gary Hume: Flashback’, organised by the Arts Council Collection, will run from Thursday 2 February until Sunday 15 April at The Headrow gallery managed by Leeds City Council featuring over 20 paintings and sculptures produced by the Turner Prize-nominated artist.
The exhibition is made up of works bought by the Arts Council Collection during the early years of Hume’s career, supported by new pieces loaned directly from the Kent-born artist as well as others from public collections.
******************** Media opportunity ********************
All media are invited to a press preview of the 'Gary Hume:Flashback' exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery at 10:45am on Friday 27 January. Artist Gary Hume will be at the preview and will be available for interview. Leeds Art Gallery is located on The Headrow, Leeds LS1 3AA.******************** Media opportunity ********************
Having graduated from Goldsmith’s College in London in 1988, Hume’s bold, abstract style with striking use of colour made an immediate impression as he was part of the now-famous ‘Freeze’ exhibition in the same year which launched a new ‘golden’ generation of British artists including Damien Hirst, who himself was the subject of a major exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery last summer.
Hume’s success continued throughout the 1990s, being nominated for the Turner Prize in 1996 and representing Britain at the renowned Sao Paulo and Venice Biennales in 1996 and 1999 respectively. In 2001 he was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in London and in recent years his work has featured on display in Germany, Austria, the Modern Art Oxford and an exhibition devoted to his latest pieces ‘White Cube’ which is currently on show at Hoxton Square and Mason’s Yard in London.
The ‘Flashback’ exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery will showcase some of Hume’s outstanding early works in the Arts Council Collection including ‘Moonbeam Rising (1994)’ and ‘Four Feet in the Garden (1995)’, as well as ‘Water Painting (1999)’ which is being loaned from Tate Britain. The exhibition is also brought up to date with Hume’s ‘American Tan XXVIII 1 (2008)’ from the Royal Academy of Arts.
The exhibition is being premiered at Leeds Art Gallery before going on tour to Wolverhampton Art Gallery, the Jerwood Gallery in Hastings and Aberdeen Art Gallery.
Leeds City Council executive member for leisure Councillor Adam Ogilvie said:
“We are thrilled to be able to showcase Gary Hume’s fantastic works at Leeds Art Gallery and we cannot wait for the exhibition to start.
“Following on from the amazing exhibitions devoted to Damien Hirst and Henry Moore at the gallery last year which proved hugely popular, this is the perfect way to start 2012 and we think people will be fascinated when they see these wonderfully eye-catching paintings and scuptures.”
Head of the Arts Council Collection Caroline Douglas said:
“We are delighted to be working with Gary Hume on our next Flashback exhibition. Since first receiving critical acclaim with his ‘door’ paintings, he has created an extraordinary body of work. It is testament to both the artist’s generosity and the strength of the works acquired by Arts Council Collection that we are able to bring this substantial overview of his career to museums and galleries in the UK.”
‘Gary Hume: Flashback’ will be on display at Leeds Art Gallery from Thursday 2 February until Sunday 15 April. Admission is free.
For more information on Leeds Art Gallery, visit www.leeds.gov.uk/artgallery/ or call 0113 247 8256.
Notes to editors:
The Arts Council Collection is one of Britain’s foremost national collections of post-war British Art. As a collection 'without walls', it has no permanent gallery; it can be seen on long-term loan to museums, galleries, schools, hospitals, colleges and charitable associations and in touring exhibitions and displays at home and abroad. It is also, importantly, the most widely circulated and easily accessible collection of its kind, with nearly 8000 works available for loan. It is run by Southbank Centre on behalf of Arts Council England.
Established in 1946 to promote and enrich knowledge of contemporary art, the collection continues to acquire works by artists, many at an early stage of their career, living and working in Britain and to foster the widest possible access to modern and contemporary across the UK. It includes work by Francis Bacon, Tracey Emin, Lucian Freud, Antony Gormley, Barbara Hepworth, David Hockney, Anish Kapoor, Henry Moore, Bridget Riley and Wolfgang Tillmans. Recent exhibitions of works from the Collection, created in collaboration with Hayward Touring, include Unpopular Culture: Grayson Perry curates from the Arts Council Collection, and Now Showing I & II. In 2009 the Arts Council Collection launched the Flashback series which showcases world-renowned British artists whose works were acquired early on by the Collection, including Bridget Riley (2010) and Anish Kapoor (2011). In December 2006 access to the collection was further enhanced when www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk was launched.
For further information about the Arts Council Collection please contact Sarah Ragsdale on 020 7921 0887 or email sarah.ragsdale@southbankcentre.co.uk or Helena Zedig on 020 7921 0847 or email helena.zedig@southbankcentre.co.uk
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For media enquiries please contact:
Roger Boyde, Senior communications officer,
Leeds City Council, Tel 0113 247 5472
Email: roger.boyde@leeds.gov.uk
