Painting by Susan Absolon, a large black monolith against a burnt orange background.

Unquiet Landscapes

in partnership with Contemporary British Painting

“The land will entrance us and in the end bury us, with impartiality. If it seems to have great beauty, that is because of what we are, not because of what it is… The unquiet country is you.”

Christopher Neve, Unquiet Landscape : places and ideas in twentieth-century English painting (1990)

Unquiet Landscapes is an exhibition that takes us on a journey into landscapes that are both real and imagined, psychological and metaphorical, opening up a terrain that reflects our relationship with the landscape today.

Curated by Joanna Whittle, this exhibition showcases 38 artists and continues a series at YAS celebrating contemporary painting in Britain.

Christopher Neve’s influential book Unquiet Landscape provides the starting point for a conversation between artists working with landscape today, and those featured in Neve’s text, many of whom had experienced the trauma of war.

The ideas in the book are as relevant now as they were then; seeking solace in the natural world and the picturesque is tempered by reality, by thoughts of mortality and fragility, as well as hope.

  • Artworks installed in the exhibition Unquiet Landscapes.

    Photo: Will Slater

  • Installation view Unquiet Landscapes

    Photo: Will Slater

  • Swirling green painting around a pale yellow orb, by Amanda Ansell.

    Amanda Ansell - 'Nexus Dawn', 2023.

  • Installation view of Unquiet Landscapes

    Photo: Will Slater

  • Painting by Joanna Whittle, showing a white tent in a black landscape with a red glow coming from within.

    Joanna Whittle - 'Measuring Time (a grey place with nobody in it)', 2025.

  • Large collage piece by David Orme installed on gallery wall.

    Photo: Will Slater

  • Installation view of Unquiet Landscapes

    Photo: Will Slater

  • Painting by Barba Howey showing reeds in the summer.

    Barbara Howey - 'Marsh late summer with Reed Mace', 2024.

Featured artists

Susan Absolon, David Ainley, Jonathan Alibone, Iain Andrews, Amanda Ansell, Richard Bartle, Emma Bennett, Simon Carter, Graham Crowley, Angelina May Davis, Al Daw, Natalie Dowse, Thomas D Fowler, Sarah Grant, Heavy Water, Barbara Howey, Linda Ingham, Lisa Ivory, Christopher Jarrett, Anita Lloyd, Paula MacArthur, Nicholas Middleton, Christopher Neve, Paul Newman, David Orme, Mandy Payne, Julian Perry, Georgia Peskett, Chantal Powell, Narbi Price, James Quin, Conor Rogers, George Shaw, Judith Tucker, Simon Tupper, Jan Valick, Joanna Whittle, and Sean Williams.