Image
A man wearing jeans, a yellow shirt, dark open jacket and brown boots is seated on a chair. He has long hair and facial hair. He is setting thoughtfully resting his chin in his right hand. There is a necklace on the floor next to his right boot.
Seki Lynch, 2024, coloured pencil on paper by Curtis Holder, copyright the artist.
Fri 8 Nov 2024 - Sun 13 Apr 2025
Silent Echoes, Spoken Truths: Curtis Holder
Exhibitions
Visual Art
Event organiser:
Leeds Art Gallery

Leeds Art Gallery presents an exhibition of new works on paper by Curtis Holder following an 18-month artist residency at the Gallery.

The show documents Holder's immersion into the life of the Gallery, exploring the collection, forming bonds with the people he has met, with a particular focus on the connection he made with eight individuals based in Leeds and whose portraits he has drawn.

The title of the exhibition reflects the deep - yet often unspoken or overlooked past histories and emotions of people of the Global Majority in Leeds. It highlights the process of bringing their voices to light with the sharing and revealing of personal stories through dialogue and drawing. The new large-scale drawings by Holder are accompanied by personal responses from sitters. They are also displayed alongside works from the collection that have interested and intrigued the sitters; works they felt emotional towards or saw themselves reflected within.

Curtis Holder is a London-based artist who works in graphite and coloured pencil to create large-scale portraits and figurative works on paper. In 2020, he achieved widespread recognition by winning the prestigious Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year competition.

Curtis Holder was appointed artist-in-residence at Leeds Art Gallery as part of 20/20 - an ambitious three-year programme by the Decolonising Arts Institute with funding from Freelands Foundation, Arts Council England and University of the Arts London. Combining artist residencies with artistic commissioning at scale, 20/20 brings together 20 emerging artists of colour with 20 UK public art collections, leading to 20 permanent acquisitions.

Leeds Art Gallery

The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AA
United Kingdom

53.800131, -1.548706

    Date
    Fri 8 Nov 2024 - Sun 13 Apr 2025
    Show all dates/times

    Ticket price

    Free

    Leeds Art Gallery

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