The Tetley, Leeds Explained

The Tetley
Coordinates:53.7921°N -1.5397°W
Established:2013
Location:Leeds
Visitors:484,491 (2018)
Founder:Pippa Hale and Kerry Harker (Project Space Leeds)
Director:Bryony Bond (Creative Director)
Website:http://www.thetetley.org

The Tetley is a contemporary art gallery in Leeds, England, located in the art deco headquarters of the former Tetley's Brewery. The gallery was opened on Friday 28 November 2013.

Background

The gallery's opening was part of a multimillion-pound redevelopment of the former Tetley Brewery site. The owners, Carlsberg-Tetley ended ale and beer production at the site in 2011, demolishing all but the headquarters.

This building was retained to provide commercial office space and, in 2013, space to rehouse an existing contemporary artist-led space and registered charity, Project Space Leeds. Upon its move, the charity began operating as 'The Tetley'. The charity took on the specific brief of operating as a Leeds-equivalent to the Cornerhouse in Manchester and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead.[1]

The refurbishment of the building for the arts centre was overseen by the co-directors of Project Space Leeds, Pippa Hale and Kerry Harker, and Chris Walker of Esh Construction, with partial funding from the Arts Council England.[2]

In January 2016 Bryony Bond, a former curator at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester was appointed the new Creative Director of The Tetley.[3]

The Tetley art space had a lease on the building until 2023.[4]

Aire Park, a 24-acre mixed-use development which includes an 8-acre public park, is now being planned for the site surrounding the Tetley as part of the regeneration of the South Bank of Leeds.[5]

In March 2024, Aire Park announced Kirkstall Brewery would be taking on the building.[6] Kirkstall Brewery plan to focus on renewing the site's status as "a landmark of Yorkshire beer culture."[7]

No longer leasing the Tetley building, the arts charity rebranded as Yorkshire Contemporary in May 2024, focusing on work in different locations across the region while seeking a new permanent home.[8]

Programme

The gallery is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations.[9]

Exhibitions

2013-2016

The Tetley's opening exhibitions involved a number of artists responding to the history and space of the new building under the general title 'A New Reality' (29 November 2013 to 1 July 2014). This included James Clarkson, Emma Rushton, Derek Tyman, Simon Lewandowski, Sam Belinfante and Rehana Zaman.[10] 'Painting in Time' (2015), presented contemporary painting and its relationship to other media, including work by artists such as Yoko Ono, Natasha Kidd, Claire Ashley, Jessica Warboys and Polly Appleborn.[11]

An exhibition staged at the Tetley in 2016 recreated a controversial exhibition by the Cypriot artist Stass Paraskos, originally held in Leeds in 1966. Entitled 'Lovers and Romances' the original show at the Leeds Institute Gallery was closed down by the police and the artist charged with displaying obscene and corrupting images under the Vagrancy Acts of 1824 and 1838. The exhibition at the Tetley marked the fiftieth anniversary of the original Paraskos Trial.[12]

Also in 2016, the Tetley staged a solo exhibition of work by the London-based sculptor Jonathan Trayte, comprising vegetables and fruits made of ceramic and other sculptural materials, entitled 'Polyculture'.[13]

External links

53.7921°N -1.5397°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: New gallery breathes life into the city's 'South Bank' . Bond . Chris . www.yorkshirepost.co.uk . 29 November 2013 . 2016-11-21.
  2. 'Company serves up Tetley following £1m revamp for the arts' in The Yorkshire Post (UK newspaper), 23 November 2013
  3. Yvette Huddleston, 'Art in the City' in The Yorkshire Post (UK newspaper), 26 February 2016
  4. Mark Brown, 'Tetley brewery in Leeds reopens as modern art gallery' in The Guardian (UK newspaper), 28 November 2013
  5. News: Dzinzi . Mellissa . 4 August 2020 . Leeds to get a huge new bridge over River Aire and UK's biggest city centre park . . 25 August 2020.
  6. Web site: 2024-03-18 . Kirkstall Brewery to take on The Tetley – Aire Park . 2024-03-21 . en-GB.
  7. Web site: Brewery . Kirkstall . KIRKSTALL BREWERY TAKES ON THE TETLEY News . 2024-05-28 . Kirkstall Brewery . en.
  8. Web site: Our new name: Yorkshire Contemporary News . 2024-05-28 . Yorkshire Contemporary . en.
  9. Web site: Arts Council England . 30 March 2011 . Arts Council England announces funding decisions and new National portfolio of arts organisations . 2022-11-06 . webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
  10. 'New gallery breathes life into the city’s ‘South Bank' in The Yorkshire Post (UK newspaper), 29 November 2013
  11. 'Arts preview: Painting in Time at The Tetley, Leeds' in The Yorkshire Evening Post (UK newspaper), 22 April 2015
  12. 'Art that led to obscenity trial back in city after 50 years' in The Yorkshire Post (UK newspaper), 12 July 2016
  13. 'Artistic Appetite at the Tetley in Leeds' in The Yorkshire Evening Post (UK newspaper), 10 August 2016