Image source: https://leedsliving.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/result_Uz-Uz-Uz-04-1160×508.jpeg from https://leedsliving.co.uk/art-culture/uz-uz-uz-at-stanley-audrey-burton-gallery-until-6-june-2026/ (Accessed: 4 January 2026). © The Estate of Arthur Kitching
Arthur Kitching, Wrestlers II (c. 1965), Leeds, The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, oil on board, 213 cm x 91 cm.
Currently on display at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery is an exhibition titled [uz], [uz], [uz]: Artists from Working-Class Backgrounds. The exhibition brings together a dizzying array of works, in a wide range of mediums, from over thirty modern and contemporary artists, all of whom were born in or hold a significant connection to Yorkshire.[1]
The layout of this temporary exhibition mirrors that of the gallery’s permanent display; a compact, oblong space with a temporary wall at its centre. On one side of the wall is Beth Smith’s colourful Comfort Food (1990),[2] while the other side, facing away from the exhibition’s entrance, is dominated by Arthur Kitching’s Wrestlers II (c. 1965).[3]
Born in Sheffield, Kitching was largely self-taught.[4] He had his first exhibition in 1965, at the age of 53, following three decades of artistic practice;[5] by this time, his already-extensive back catalogue was evidence of his eclectic range of artistic influences, which included the work of Matisse and Cézanne, as well as the Vorticism movement (in particular its founder, Wyndham Lewis).[6][7]
Against a backdrop of solid blue, intersected by striped, zigzag, and grid-like patterns of red, black and orange, the two figures of Wrestlers II find themselves locked in intense opposition, forming a pleasing symmetry. Their muscular, bronzed bodies are primed for one-on-one combat, with their simplified, bulbous forms, solidly outlined in black, owing much to Matisse.
Equally, the influence of Wyndham Lewis’s abstract works is evident in the geometric patterns that frame the two figures, imbibing the image with a dynamic tension. There is tension, too, in the almost hypnotic repetition of brushstrokes within the concentrated forms of the wrestlers’ bodies, giving the impression of muscle fibres.
Far from simply pastiching and synthesising existing styles, however, Kitching’s Wrestlers II puts a modern spin on one of art’s classical subjects. The two figures are seen from the high-angle perspective of a television camera, while the painting’s bright colours and bold outlines are reminiscent of advertising posters.[8] Here, the sport of wrestling is presented as a modern mass-media spectacle.
Perhaps, however, it would be best not to read too much into these visual parallels. By all accounts, Kitching was interested above all else in pure visual pleasure,[4] and his flamboyant yet harmonious unification of early-20th century styles, as seen in Wrestlers II, provides exactly that.
[1] University of Leeds (no date) [uz], [uz], [uz]: Artists from Working-Class Backgrounds. Available at: https://library.leeds.ac.uk/events/event/1900/galleries/965/uz-uz-uz-artists-from-working-class-backgrounds (Accessed: 4 January 2026).
[2] Rolls, D. (2025) [uz], [uz], [uz] at Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery Until 6 June 2026. Available at: https://leedsliving.co.uk/art-culture/uz-uz-uz-at-stanley-audrey-burton-gallery-until-6-june-2026/ (Accessed: 4 January 2026).
[3] In the exhibition, the painting’s accompanying label does not attribute a date. On the Arthur Kitching Gallery website (see [5]), the work is given an approximate date of 1965, although its title is given as Wrestlers III.
[4] Art UK (no date) Arthur Kitching. Available at: https://artuk.org/discover/artists/kitching-arthur-19121981 (Accessed: 4 January 2026).
[5] The Arthur Kitching Gallery (no date) Notes for an Autobiography. Available at: https://rtnl.org.uk/kitching/about/autobiography.html (Accessed: 4 January 2026).
[6] The Arthur Kitching Gallery (no date) Pictures. Available at: https://rtnl.org.uk/kitching/catalogue/ (Accessed: 4 January 2026).
[7] The Arthur Kitching Gallery (no date) Arthur Kitching. Available at: https://rtnl.org.uk/kitching/ (Accessed: 4 January 2026).
[8] [uz], [uz], [uz]: Artists from Working-Class Backgrounds (2025-26). [Exhibition]. The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery. 19 November-6 June.
Rethinking the Image 
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