‘Arcadia for All? Rethinking Landscape Painting Now’ is a new exhibition from The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery at the University of Leeds that raises pertinent questions about who has access to nature, where and how.

The exhibition challenges a nostalgic, idyllic and elitist idea of landscape. It embraces and celebrates nature in all its forms, acknowledging that in the 21st century most people in the UK access nature on a regular basis through allotments, community gardens, public parks or even simply through windows and screens.

‘Arcadia for All?’ features a wonderfully broad spectrum of artworks by over thirty artists, including Hurvin Anderson, Andrew Grassie, Lubaina Himid, Matthew Krishanu, Elizabeth Magill and George Shaw. They all approach nature from many different directions, expanding the notion of landscape painting in new, unexpected and sometimes radical and playful ways. Moreover, the exhibition celebrates the vitality and variety of contemporary painting in all its materiality and visual richness.

The exhibition was co-curated by Geraint Evans and Dr Judith Tucker