Obsession: contemporary art from the Lodeveans Collection

Challenging and thought-provoking new artworks from around the globe will be shown in a forthcoming exhibition at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery.

They are on loan from the prestigious Lodeveans Collection of international contemporary art, established in April 2006 by visionary father and son collectors, Stuart and John Evans. The exhibition, 'Obsession: Contemporary Art from the Lodeveans Collection,' runs from 22 September until 28 November 2009. The Gallery is open Mon-Sat, 10-5pm, and admission is free.

The Lodeveans collecting mission is to bring together young artists, working in different media, who challenge people to reassess the ways they think, with their artwork. London-based collectors Stuart and John Evans aim to make this new work publicly accessible, through loans, exhibitions, and publications worldwide. The Leeds exhibition will highlight some of the key works in the collection, focussing in particular on the obsessive technique and themes of many of the artists included. The often meticulous attention to detail and analytic concepts of these artists is mirrored in the obsessive devotion to contemporary art of the Lodeveans collectors themselves.

Exhibitions Officer Layla Bloom says 'Stuart and John are completely committed to supporting young contemporary artists. They're not only supporting them in the short term, by buying their work at an early stage in their careers, but also, they're giving these young artists a more promising future by promoting their artwork through loans to exhibitions worldwide. They're the kind of collectors young artists are falling over themselves to meet.'  The exhibition will include works by promising newcomers to the international art scene, including Trevor Appleson, Mustafa Hulusi and Nogah Engler, as well as established artists like Anna Barriball and Richard Forster.

Stuart Evans, who graduated from the School of Law at the University of Leeds, has been a partner at London law firm Simmons & Simmons since 1981, where he was responsible for amassing his firm's own corporate art collection. He has also served as Chairman of the Tate Patrons of New Art from 1997 to 2000 and was a juror for the 2001 Turner Prize.  John Evans, a London property investor, followed in his father's footsteps when he began collecting at the age of 18 - negotiating the purchase of a drawing by rising star Tracy Emin in 1995. John helped organise the first Zoo Art Fair and has been involved in the production of video artworks.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an exhibition catalogue of the Lodeveans Collection, showing a snapshot of the artistic diversity, talent and imagination emerging on a global scale. The richly illustrated publication will include contextual essays and a full catalogue of the entire collection. The publication, designed by Leeds-based artist-designer collective Nous Vous, will be available later this autumn from the Gallery shop.