Yelena Popova, Slow Painting, 24 October 2019 – 12 January 2020

Southbank Centre’s ​Hayward Gallery Touring​ presents ​Slow Painting​, an exhibition of paintings that take their time, and invite us to do the same. Curated by the writer and critic Martin Herbert​, the exhibition​ ​features 19 artists, primarily British or UK based, whose work spans a myriad of styles and applications, from figuration to abstraction. Opening at Leeds Art Gallery (​24 Oct 2019 – 12 Jan 2020)​, ​Slow Painting​ then travels to The Levinsky Gallery in ​Plymouth (25 Jan – 29 Mar 2020).

Art has reacted, like everything else, to digital technology, both on the level of making and reception. The speed at which art is consumed has been transformed by shorter attention spans and the desire to make images that ‘pop’ on smartphone and computer screens. Yet painting has historically been both created and received patiently, offering a space of pause, contemplation and gradual unfurling. ​Slow Painting​ offers a counterbalance to an increasingly accelerating world, comprising works that illustrate ​the role of painting as a rewarding repository of time.