The Tetley

The Tetley

Company type	Charity
Industry	Contemporary art gallery
Predecessor	Project Space Leeds (2006–2012)
Founded	28 November 2013
Defunct	17 December 2023
Fate	Closed; rebranded as Yorkshire Contemporary in 2024
Headquarters	Leeds , England
Key people	Bryony Bond (Creative Director from January 2016), Pippa Hale (Co-director), Kerry Harker (Co-director)
Owner	Charitable organisation initially Project Space Leeds, later Yorkshire Contemporary

The Tetley functioned as a contemporary art venue located in Leeds, England, situated within the art deco former headquarters of Tetley's Brewery. It commenced operations on 28 November 2013 and ceased on 17 December 2023. The charitable organisation behind it, initially known as Project Space Leeds (2006–2012), adopted the name Yorkshire Contemporary after the gallery's closure.

Background

The establishment of the gallery formed part of a substantial redevelopment project valued at several million pounds, focused on the former Tetley Brewery site following the end of production by Carlsberg-Tetley in 2011, with only the original headquarters building preserved. This structure was transformed to accommodate commercial office spaces alongside a dedicated venue for Project Space Leeds from 2013, which subsequently operated under the name The Tetley. The charity’s objective was to create a cultural institution in Leeds comparable to Manchester’s Cornerhouse and Gateshead’s Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.

The renovation was overseen by co-directors Pippa Hale and Kerry Harker from Project Space Leeds together with Chris Walker from Esh Construction, with financial support partially provided by Arts Council England.

In January 2016, Bryony Bond, previously a curator at Manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery, was appointed as Creative Director of The Tetley.

The gallery maintained a lease agreement for the premises until 2023.

Adjacent to the site, Aire Park—a 24-acre mixed-use development featuring an 8-acre public park—is planned as part of the regeneration efforts in Leeds South Bank.

In March 2024, Aire Park revealed that Kirkstall Brewery would assume control of The Tetley building, intending to re-establish it as an iconic symbol of Yorkshire’s brewing heritage.

After the lease concluded, the arts organisation rebranded itself as Yorkshire Contemporary in May 2024, redirecting its efforts towards regional initiatives while pursuing a new permanent location.

Programme

The Tetley was included among Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisations.

2013-2016

At its inception, The Tetley showcased exhibitions under the series 'A New Reality' (29 November 2013 – 1 July 2014), where artists engaged with the building’s historical context. Featured contributors included James Clarkson, Emma Rushton, Derek Tyman, Simon Lewandowski, Sam Belinfante, and Rehana Zaman. The 2015 exhibition 'Painting in Time' investigated contemporary painting’s interaction with other artistic media, presenting works by Yoko Ono, Natasha Kidd, Claire Ashley, Jessica Warboys, and Polly Appleborn.

In 2016, The Tetley revisited Cypriot artist Stass Paraskos’s provocative 1966 show 'Lovers and Romances,' originally closed by police and resulting in an obscenity prosecution under the Vagrancy Acts. This exhibition commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the Paraskos Trial.

Also in that year, London-based sculptor Jonathan Trayte held a solo exhibition titled 'Polyculture,' featuring ceramic sculptures depicting various fruits and vegetables.