REVIEW: To Improvise A Mountain / Lynette Yiadom-Boakye
By Alison Norwood, volunteer arts reviewer
This calming exhibition at the De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, is curated by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye (b.1977), inspired by the rhythms of poetry and the jazz of Miles Davies.
To quote her poem of the same title, ‘…claw your way to the summit; To join the Eagle for coffee and cigarettes; In his lounge among the clouds; And together, plot a Revolution from the Safety of the Sky.’
She wants to provoke reaction based on the intuition of how you feel towards the show and sets the intention with the poem.
The grouping of older and newer artists here is billed as a ‘collection of poets, dreamers, thinkers and wanderers,’ and the works depict people in various states of stillness.
My intuitive reaction was to consider what it’s like when the subjects of portraits are, mostly, not looking outwards and making eye-contact, but are instead thoughtfully looking in.
The titular painting, To Improvise A Mountain, (Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, 2025) sets this mood from the outset with a set of sketches of a man in various states of contemplation.
There’s a lot of mono throughout – charcoal or photography – occasionally morphing into deep autumnal colour, as in An Eternal Black Pledge To The Cunning (Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, 2024). Intriguingly, this painting illustrates its subject not only looking directly at the viewer but being in the middle of saying something as well.
One of the older artists represented in this collection is Walter Sickert (1860-1942), whose brown-based colour range fits perfectly with this mood; while other guest appearances by Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) and Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940) are more Mediterranean in palette.
Interspersed amongst the still images are two short films, and the intriguing video, I’m too sad to tell you, by Bas Jan Ader (b.1942 - disappeared 1975), created in 1970-71, which is resonant of an Andy Warhol screen test from his 1960s film-making era.
Literally bringing poetry to 3D life, Untitled (If I Can’t Have Love, I’ll Take Sunshine) (Glenn Ligon, 2006), is a neon sculpture that is featured between charcoal and oil paint works to illustrate the variety and verve of media on display.
It was the charcoal images that most caught my attention, especially Mesmeric (Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, 2025), which shows that its title’s intention is having the desired effect. This person casually resting, dissolving into shadows against an artfully-placed black circle, made me realise that my breath was slowing in response to the still mood of the exhibition space.
Parting at Dusk (After Rothenstein) (Lisa Brice, 2018), was another stand-out piece, with a whole novella of storyline behind the woman’s expression. Nearby, with more contrast of styles, Something from Sleep II – another David Wojnarowicz (1954-1992) piece from 1992 – dipped again into a kind of Pop-Art Surrealism to complement some of his other works on the opposite photographic wall.
For those who like peaceful, reflective art, this exhibition is ideal.
My own feeling about how it feels for subjects of portraits to not look directly at you is relief – there’s enough drama in the world without being pulled into somebody else’s. But that’s just my take. To consider your own reactions, this beautiful show is definitely worth a visit.
:: The exhibition runs until 13 September 2026 in the ground and first-floor galleries at the De La Warr Pavilion. Entry is free, but donations are welcome.
To Improvise A Mountain is a Hayward Gallery Touring Exhibition from Southbank Centre, London.
:: Alison Norwood is managing director of Norwood Editorial Services and was previously an academic publisher. She has also worked in print and design and writes novels in her spare time. Alison has always studied art history and is a volunteer arts reviewer for Eastbourne Reporter.
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