New gallery show explores work of internationally renowned artists

Presented in collaboration with Hayward Gallery Touring, the exhibition has seen Yiadom-Boakye select works that have influenced her own way of seeing and thinking, taking visitors on a journey across different geographies and generations.

The spirit of the exhibition stems from a fragment of poetry in ‘Inamorata’, a 1970 recording by jazz musician Miles Davis, which reads: ‘Who is this music that which description may never justify? / Can the ocean be described?’

First coming to prominence in the early 2010s, Yiadom-Boakye is an artist and a writer renowned for her oil paintings of imagined subjects, depicting figures that are hailed for both their technical mastery and enigmatic quality.

Yiadom-Boakye said: “My use of words in writing is not always so different to my use of brush marks in painting. The logic, patterns, relationships and decisions are guided by intuition and a means of thinking through what is felt.

“That's how I wanted to approach this show. And I wanted to bring together works by artists whose vision beguiles me: fellow poets, dreamers, thinkers and wanderers. It is humbling and a dream to show amongst them.”

To Improvise A Mountain features work by artists including: Bas Jan Ader, Pierre Bonnard, Lisa Brice, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Samuel Fosso, Peter Hujar, Kahlil Joseph, Zoe Leonard, Glenn Ligon, Toyin Ojih Odutola, The Otolith Group, Jennifer Packer, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Walter Sickert, Édouard Vuillard, David Wojnarowicz, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.

A Hayward Gallery Touring exhibition curated by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye with Hayward Gallery Touring, the exhibition is developed in partnership with Leeds Art Gallery, MK Gallery, and Nottingham Castle, supporting the Southbank Centre’s ongoing mission to create experiences for the nation’s enjoyment.

Brian Cass, Senior Curator of Hayward Gallery Touring, said: “Lynette Yiadom-Boakye brings us on an imaginative journey of encounters with artworks that - like her remarkable paintings - conjure different moods, personalities, colour and emotions.

"Her curation celebrates the imaginative spirit of the contributing artists, and the endless potential of art to bring new thinking and feeling into existence, continuing Hayward Gallery Touring’s longstanding history of partnering with artists on ambitious exhibitions that invite audiences inside their worlds.”

Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council’s executive member for adult social care, active lifestyles and culture, said: “It’s always inspiring to see Leeds Art Gallery displaying work by renowned artists like Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and for Leeds to be the first venue for such an important and groundbreaking exhibition.

“Giving visitors the opportunity to see artworks by artists from across the globe, alongside work from our own Leeds Museums and Galleries collection really does emphasise both the gallery and the city’s reputation as top cultural destinations.”

To Improvise a Mountain is open from today (May 16). For more information, visit: To Improvise A Mountain: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye Curates | Leeds Museums and Galleries | Days out and exhibitions

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