22 April 2015

BRITISH ART SHOW 8 – ARTISTS ANNOUNCED Hayward Touring announces the selection of artists for British Art Show 8, opening in Leeds Art Gallery on 9 October 2015 and touring to Edinburgh, Norwich and Southampton. The British Art Show is widely recognised as the most ambitious and influential exhibition of contemporary British art, with artists chosen for their significant contribution over the past five years. The curators Anna Colin and Lydia Yee made their selection after extensive research and travel across the UK. Many of the artists have a strong international presence, reflecting the increasingly globalised networks operating in the art world. More than half of the participating artists are making new work for the exhibition, while others will present recent work not previously seen in Britain. The artists in British Art Show 8 are: Åbäke Lawrence Abu Hamdan Caroline Achaintre John Akomfrah and Trevor Mathison Aaron Angell Pablo Bronstein Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin Andrea Büttner Alexandre da Cunha Nicolas Deshayes Benedict Drew Simon Fujiwara Martino Gamper Ryan Gander

Melanie Gilligan Anthea Hamilton Will Holder Alan Kane Mikhail Karikis Linder Rachel Maclean Ahmet Öğüt Yuri Pattison Ciara Phillips Charlotte Prodger Laure Prouvost Magali Reus James Richards

Eileen Simpson and Ben White Daniel Sinsel Cally Spooner Patrick Staff Imogen Stidworthy Hayley Tompkins Troy Town Art Pottery Jessica Warboys Stuart Whipps Bedwyr Williams Jesse Wine Lynette Yiadom-Boakye

The exhibition concept reflects on the status of the object at a time of increasing convergence between the real and the virtual. In today’s seemingly dematerialised reality, many artists are reconsidering the potential of the physical, revisiting skills and practices that have been overshadowed in the transition to

the digital. The notion of the object is re-imagined through a variety of production and collaborative processes, as well as through the use of narrative and fiction. This year the British Art Show benefits from the exceptional support of Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring Fund. The grant will enable an integrated programme of audience development activities, including new digital platforms, community engagement and artists’ projects outside the galleries. Other supporters and partners confirmed to date include Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle; The Henry Moore Foundation; Create; Fondation d’entrepise Galeries Lafayette; Northern Ballet; Dovecot Studios and WERK, Birmingham. Exhibition curators Anna Colin and Lydia Yee said: "Working on the British Art Show has been a rich and stimulating experience. Rather than arriving with a set theme and inviting artists accordingly, the curatorial framework was developed out of conversations with artists and observations made over the course of one year. We were particularly interested in the rereading of objects by artists and other contemporary thinkers as active agents, generative entities, mutating forms and networked realities. This has given us a starting point to explore how production, labour and collaborative processes can enter into dynamic conversation with the objects’ narrative potential and web of relations.” Roger Malbert, Head of Hayward Touring, said: “The five year interval between British Art Shows is long enough for each to have a markedly different character and introduce a new generation of artists. This edition signifies a shift of curatorial perspective as well: the exhibition will evolve as it moves from city to city, with more collaborative relationships between artists and local organisations and communities.” The exhibition tour dates are: LEEDS Leeds Art Gallery 9 October 2015 – 10 January 2016 EDINBURGH Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, and Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 13 February – 8 May 2016 NORWICH Norwich University of the Arts and Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery 24 June – 4 September 2016 SOUTHAMPTON John Hansard Gallery and Southampton City Art Gallery 8 October 2016 – 14 January 2017

ENDS For press information contact Helena Zedig, Deputy Head of Press, at helena.zedig@southbankcentre.co.uk / 020 7921 0847. Southbank Centre Press Office: 020 7921 0888. Notes to Editors: Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre, occupying a 21-acre site that sits in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is home to the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and the Hayward Gallery as well as The Saison Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. Hayward Touring is an integral part of the Hayward Gallery, producing exhibitions that tour to galleries, museums and other publicly-funded venues throughout Britain. Hayward Touring collaborates with artists, independent curators, writers and partner institutions to develop imaginative exhibitions that are seen by approximately half a million people in over 100 cities and towns each year. Anna Colin is an independent curator based in London. She is a co-founder and co-Director of Open School East and Associate Curator at Fondation Galeries Lafayette in Paris. Lydia Yee is Chief Curator at Whitechapel Gallery. She was previously Curator at Barbican Art Gallery. Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich

people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to

digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires

us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life

better. Between 2015 and 2018, we plan to invest £1.1 billion of public money from government and an

estimated £700 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people

as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk

For further information about Strategic Touring Fund please visit:

http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/apply-funding/apply-for-funding/strategic-touring-programme/