Hayward Touring celebrates today’s art practices with an extraordinary line-up of artists for this year’s British Art Show. Organised every five years by the Hayward Gallery, the show is widely recognised for its ambitious and influential presentation of contemporary British art, with established and emerging artists chosen for their significant contribution to the art world in recent years.

Selected by Anna Colin, co-Director of Open School East and Associate Curator at Fondation Galeries Lafayette, and Lydia Yee, Chief Curator at Whitechapel Gallery, many of the British Art Show 8 artists reflect the increasingly globalised networks operating in the industry through their strong international presence. Featured practitioners for the upcoming edition include Turner-prize winner (2013) Laure Prouvost, Turner-prize nominee (2014) Ciara Phillips, Cally Spooner, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Nicolas Deshayes, Benedict Drew, Simon Fujiwara, Mikhail Karikis, Daniel Sinsel, Jesse Wine and Patrick Staff.

Thematically, the show will emphasise  the status of the object in the digital age. In today’s dematerialised reality, many artists are reconsidering the value of the physical and revisiting skills and processes that may have been overshadowed by modernity’s surge of technological advances. Curators Colin and Yee were keen to work collaboratively with selected artists, commenting that “the curatorial framework was developed out of conversations and observations made over the course of one year. We were particularly interested in the rereading of objects by artists as active agents, generative entities, mutating forms and networked realities.”

Opening in Leeds City Art Gallery on 9 October, and touring to Edinburgh, Norwich and Southampton, the British Art Show 8 highlights key elements from the Hayward Touring programme. An integral part of Hayward Gallery, Hayward Touring collaborates with artists, curators, writers and partner institutions to develop exhibitions that tour to galleries, museums and other publicly-funded venues nationwide.

The British Art Show 8 benefits from the support of Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring Fund. 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.

British Art Show 8, 9 October 2015 – 10 January 2016, Leeds City Art Gallery, and venues nationwide until 2017.

For a full list of exhibiting artists and venue details, visit www.southbankcentre.co.uk/venues/hayward-gallery/hayward-touring

Follow us on Twitter @AestheticaMag for the latest news in contemporary art and culture.

Credits
1. Ciara Phillips, New Things to Discuss (2014). Copyright and courtesy of the artist.