The Leisure Centre

15 Sep 2023-3 Aug 2024

Glenn Brown, On the Way to the Leisure Centre, 2017, Oil on panel. Credit: Photo Mike Bruce

Overview

The Leisure Centre is the third exhibition to take place at Bentinck Mews. It will coincide with Frieze London 2023 which is held in nearby Regent’s Park.

According to Brown, the title questions not so much what a leisure centre is but what might be the centre of our leisure. What is the point at which relaxation and non-functional activity allows the mind to freely wander, when we can indulge in activities or thoughts simply for the pure pleasure of doing so. When does sex go beyond procreation, when does food satisfy more than hunger or when does furniture become more than functional - arguably, the point at which it becomes art.

The Leisure Centre combines the works of Glenn Brown, with artists from the past and present which are in his collection, of which the full list is below. The exhibition asks the viewer to become a flaneur, travelling through time and place around the rooms of The Brown Collection; questioning which century a work was made, who made it and why. 

Philip Akkerman (Dutch, b.1957), Abraham Bloemaert (Dutch, 1566-1651), Glenn Brown (British, b. 1966), Gillis Claesz. de Hondecoeter (Dutch, 1575/80-1638), Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem (Dutch, 1562-1638), Morris Cox (British, 1903-1998), Henri Fantin-Latour (French, 1836-1904), Gaetano Gandolfi (Italian, 1734-1802), Mauro Gandolfi (Italian, 1764-1834), Ubaldo Gandolfi (Italian, 1728-1781), Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725-1805), Hans Hartung (German-French, 1904-1989), Grace Pailthorpe (British, 1883-1971), Fiona Rae, R.A. (British, 1963), Austin Osman Spare (British, 1886-1956), Andries Jacobsz Stock (Dutch, 1580-1648), Jan Saenredam (Dutch, 1565-1607), Jan Toorop (Dutch, 1858-1928), Gillian Wearing (British, b. 1963)

Artists