Leeds, UK.- “Artist Rooms: Damien Hirst”, the national programme of contemporary art on tour with the Art Fund, expands into two further rooms when it goes on show at Leeds Art Gallery from July 15th to October 30th. Significant additional loans include an installation in one room devoted to the legendary Pharmacy restaurant project in London’s Notting Hill. Hirst’s art was embedded in the experience this restaurant offered diners and imbibers – from branding, to all aspects of its interior design – when it opened its doors in 1998 only to close in 2003. The contents of the restaurant were dispersed through a Sotheby’s sale, itself the stuff of legend, and elements are brought together in Leeds for the first time for a Gallery exhibition.
Pharmacy was in actuality an embodiment of many of Hirst’s key ideas as everyday experience. The five works that make up “Artist Rooms” trace these iconic ideas through a series of key works from the early 90s through to 2006, including ‘Away from the Flock’ (1994 ) ,one of his signature vitrine pieces of animals suspended in formaldehyde, a large cabinet piece ‘Trinity – Pharmacology, Physiology, Pathology’ (2000), ‘Monument to the Living and the Dead’ (2006) a large ‘butterfly’ painting and a spot painting from 1994. Further loans from private collections include ‘Anatomy of an Angel’, carved from Cararra marble, and ‘He Tried to Internalise Everything’ from the Arts Council Collection. A Poison Painting diptych from Hirst’s 2010 ‘Poison’ series brings the ‘Artist Room’ up to date.
‘Artist Rooms’ is jointly owned by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland and was established through The d’Offay Donation in 2008, with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund and the Scottish and British Governments. ‘Artist Rooms on Tour with the Art Fund’ is devised to enable this far-reaching collection to reach and inspire new audiences across the country, particularly young people. Alongside the ‘Artist Rooms’ show in Leeds, ‘A Series of Artworks Carefully Arranged’, will be shown as a parallel exhibition curated by Visual Communication students from Leeds College of Art. The exhibition has been drawn from works from the Gallery’s permanent collection that reflect the themes of ‘boundaries and intrusions’ that the students have identified in Hirst’s work.
Leeds Art Gallery has been described as ‘Probably the best collection of twentieth century British art outside London’ (John Russell Taylor, The Times). Leeds Art Gallery is a newly re-furbished creative and lively gallery in the heart of Leeds on The Headrow in Leeds’ Cultural Quater. Offering displays of Leeds’ Stunning collections as well as a dynamic programme of changing exhibition, Leeds Art Gallery is an innovative and exciting place to visit for people of all ages and tastes! At Leeds Art Gallery you can see a rich variety of art on display from Leeds’ impressive collections. See nationally acclaimed prints, watercolours, paintings, sculptures, photography, and contemporary art. Wander between rooms and see well-known artists from our region, such as Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Atkinson Grimshaw, Jacob Kramer, as well as work by a range of contemporary artists including Paula Rego, Bridget Riley, Georgina Starr, Tony Cragg, Antony Gormley and Francis Bacon.
Recently benefiting from £1.5m investment, the gallery has had a major re-hang of its paintings and sculptures as well as adding a new multi media exhibition gallery, a new floor and exposing for the first time in many years, the beautifully decorated Victorian Tiled Hall which links the art gallery to Leeds Central Library. Leeds Art Gallery is home to a world of treasures and contains items by famous artists such as Rodin, Henry Moore, Jacob Kramer and Dame Barbara Hepworth, as well as work by less-known and newly emerging artists. In 1997 the collection was designated by the government as of national importance. The internationally acclaimed collection of works on paper features Turner, Cotman, Cozens and Girtin. The Gallery has always tried to support the work of living artists. Early gifts included Lady Butler’s Scotland Forever. The enduringly popular Leeds artist, Atkinson Grimshaw, is represented by numerous evocative, moonlit scenes. French pictures include celebrated works by Derain and Alfred Sisley. The Art Gallery continues to collect contemporary art. Recent acquisitions include works by Bill Woodrow, Paula Rego, Mark Wallinger, Stephen Willats, Alison Wilding and Bridget Riley. Through the generous support of the Henry Moore Foundation, the Gallery has bought many important sculptures and can boast a modern sculpture collection second only to that of the Tate. Visit the museum’s website at … http://www.leeds.gov.uk/artgallery