Fleur Yearsley
Fleur Yearsley is a Northern visual artist based in Manchester. Her work explores themes of memory, humour, gender and unfolding narratives, often drawing on pop culture to create a relatable connection with the viewer. Offering a fresh, immersive perspective, Yearsley reclaims the tradition of ‘the gaze’, which has historically objectified women in art and shifts the power dynamic, encouraging viewers to reflect on how they perceive subjects and their own role in the act of looking. Her process is characterised by immediacy and openness, balanced with playful refinement and a colourful sensibility. Through a diverse range of gestural actions, hard edges, and flat colours, she infuses her work with energy and a sense of vibration. Yearsley’s paintings resonate like a generational anthem, addressing concepts of high and low brow culture, everyday life, urban environments and social norms.
Her painting To The Moon and Back was featured in the John Moores Painting Prize 2020. She has exhibited internationally, including group shows GNYP Gallery Berlin, HOME Manchester and The Royal Academy of Arts, London and solo presentations with Sapling Gallery, London and The Manchester Contemporary, where she represented Paradise Works. Yearsley is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Haworth Trust Scholarship (2023) and the Jealous Prize (2018), which involved a residency at Jealous’ screen-printing studios and the acquisition of a limited-edition print into the V&A Museum Collection. Further awards include the Almacantar Studio Award (2017) and Gwen John Scholarship (2017).
Yearsley has been featured in publications including The Wick Culture and Concrete and has participated in various residencies, including the Laura Owens Residency with the Luma Foundation in Arles (2022). After completing her MFA in Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art in 2017, Yearsley was selected for their Summer Residency Programme and has since led teaching residencies at Cheadle Hulme School and Malvern St James.