Exhibitions

Exhibitions at Leeds Gallery are usually on a four week turnaround, however some may be a short as a day while others can last up to 6 weeks. We aim to keep our programme as flexible as possible throughout each year, rotating a selection of exhibitions displaying work in varying media and on many different subjects.

If you are an artist or collective interested in exhibiting with us, please complete the online application form.

The gallery is available to hire for events, exhibitions and functions from 1 hour to 6 weeks or more in length – for more information please go to the venue hire and events page or contact the gallery with details of your requirements.

Upcoming Exhibitions

The Yorkshire Artists (Part 5)

17^th June – 13^th July 2013

Part 5 of our Yorkshire Artists series. Full details coming soon.

Exhibition title TBC

15^th July – 17^th August 2013

Exhibition in association with Chris Beetles Gallery. Full details coming soon.

LLD Summer School 2013

19^th – 31^st August 2013

Following it’s success in 2012 the ever-popular Leeds Life Drawing Summer School returns for a second year. Full details coming soon.

For more information please go to leedslifedrawing.com.

The Yorkshire Photographers 1 & 2

11^th October – 22^nd November 2013

Photography of, in and about Yorkshire. This will be two exhibitions running back to back. Full details coming soon.

N E O N

23^rd November – 23^rd December 2013

A celebration of neon artwork. Full details coming soon.

The Yorkshire Artists (Part 6)

2^nd January – 1^st February 2014

Part 6 of our Yorkshire Artists series. Full details coming soon.

Past Exhibitions

Mock ‘N’ Roll

27^th April – 7^th May 2013

Illustrator Jack Hudson has once again teamed up with 3D image-making duo Lord Whitney, this time to produce a body of work inspired by the most vibrant, iconic, and downright weird record covers in history.

Jack and Lord Whitney have created an entire back catalogue of LP cover designs for a series of fictitious musical artists. This exhibition will launch you into a sonic time warp where only the best bits from an era rich in music and visuals are permitted. Doves will cry. Hair will spontaneously perm.

PRIVATE VIEW – Saturday 27^th April 2013 – leedsgallery.com/rsvp

View exhibition details and catalogue

The FEAST

30^th March – 26^th April 2013

Once upon a time, illustration, or ‘illumination’ was about picking up a quill and dipping it in ink.

The common preconception today is that an Illustrator decorates books, or otherwise simply works in 2-dimensions; The Feast smashes this concept, celebrating 8 ‘illustrators’ and their unique methods of practice – digital Art sits alongside 3-dimensional work, neighboured by traditional screen printed pieces, vinyl murals and more. Every artist has a unique way of seeing and in this exhibition we challenge the viewer to experience the artwork that little bit more – to delve into the mind of the artist and enjoy this visual feast for the eyes… this is The Feast…

Featuring work from:

Jay Cover
Nick Jobbings
Matthew The Horse
Rabbit Portal
Tiger Tea
Serena Partridge
Freddie Denton
Julia Bickerstaff
Lord Whitney
Bompas & Parr

The Private View of The Feast is on Saturday 13^th April from 6pm with the grand unveiling of Bompas and Parr’s incredible creation – The Whisky Tornado – by the famous Jellymongers themselves!

View exhibition details and catalogue

One By One… By The Way

28^th January – 28^th February 2013

Photographer Tony Woolliscroft has toured with the Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers for the past 20 years, this exhibition is a selection of images spanning two decades; from stage to back-stage it’s an intriguing look behind the scenes of both bands through the nineties and noughties.

PRIVATE VIEW – Friday 1^st February 2013.

There will be events and gigs in association with Leeds College of Music throughout the exhibition – please check Twitter and Facebook for updates.

All photographs in this exhibition are for sale and will continue to be available after the end of the show.

View exhibition details and catalogue

Leeds Print Festival 2013

10^th June – 13^th July 2013

Leeds Gallery will be hosting the second Leeds Print Festival from Friday the 18th of January to Sunday the 27^th of January 2013.

The air in Leeds Gallery will be filled with the sweet aroma of ink for the opening night celebration on Friday the 18^th of January, be the first to see this year’s Print Exhibition and try your hand at printing too. On Saturday the 19^th come and visit the Print Fair and marvel at the talents of print makers from the region, so very talented they are indeed. So, it is fortunately you can buy their work and take it home with you. And, drumroll, then, high hat, Sunday the 20^th marks the day of the Print Talks.

The Print Exhibition will run for the duration of Leeds Print Festival 2013 from Friday 18^th to Sunday 27^th January.

View exhibition details & catalogue

Leeds Life Drawing Exhibition 2012

17^th – 21^st December 2012 and 4^th – 17^th January 2013

This is the first ever Leeds Life Drawing exhibition at Leeds Gallery, of some of the work produced during the weekly life drawing sessions. With so many drawing groups, work tends to be rolled up, taken home and put away in a drawer or cupboard, never to be seen again.

This show is a celebration of the work that ends up residing in an attic or a cupboard; a celebration of the talented people who come to the group.

The exhibition will run in two parts, 17^th – 21^st December 2012 and then into the new year from 4^th – 17^th January 2013.

During the LLD show in January, there will be lots of life drawing events which will run at a specially discounted rate for all attendees. Sessions can be booked online via the Leeds Life Drawing events page.

For more information please go to leedslifedrawing.com.

View exhibition details

Sun Awards 24 – Photography Exhibition

31^st October – 15^th December 2012

The SUN Awards showcase and reward the best in professional photography. It does this through an annual judged competition, the showcase Sun exhibition, with allied events and seminars highlighting photography generated in the Northern regions of the UK, within the disciplines of advertising, design, fashion and editorial.

Exhibition catalogues are available at £10 each from the gallery or from the Leeds Gallery online shop.

This is the 24^th Annual ‘Shot Up North’ Awards.

Selected works in this exhibition are available for sale – please contact the gallery for details.

View exhibition details & catalogue

A Small Life – “Suki”

1^st – 30^th October 2012

An exhibition of drawings and paintings of Yorkshire-based poet and life model “Suki”.

Following a call for submissions resulting in an overwhelmingly high number of responses, Leeds Gallery has selected the final pieces for this exhibition. This collection of work, by 36 artists, has been produced during many intensive life drawing sessions over the past 3 years.

Although the subject matter is always the same, we see Suki from 36 different viewpoints, both physical and psychological.

In conjunction with this exhibition, Part I of Suki’s illustrated autobiography, A Small Life (Cinnamon Press), will be launched at an unclothed reading event within Leeds Gallery on 5^th October. Come and sketch Suki posing while her story is read. Copies of ‘Suki’ and ‘Kunst’ are also available from the Leeds Gallery online shop.

Most of the works in this exhibition are for sale.

View exhibition details & catalogue

YA3: The Yorkshire Artists, Part 3

3^rd – 30^th September 2012

Part three of our Yorkshire Artists series, YA3 is a celebration of work from 5 selected contemporary artists who are all either living or working in Yorkshire.

Stephen Marshall
Garth Simmons
Matt Furness
Julia Potter
Hilary Roper Newman

All works in this exhibition are for sale.

View exhibition details & catalogue

LLD: Summer Life Drawing School

28^th – 31^st September 2012

Leeds Life Drawing took over the gallery for a week for their first ever life drawing summer school. LLD’s usual weekly sessions take place at Leeds Gallery every Wednesday from 6.30pm – 8.30pm.

For more information please go to leedslifedrawing.com

inSight: Group 7

1^st – 25^th August 2012

This show of ‘Group 7′ artists features work from Pauline Meade, Mark Sofilas, Cath Brooke, Peter Ellis, Sue Atkinson, Kath Tarpy, Janine Denby and Jane Burgess. Group 7 / Leeds Fine Artists was founded in 1874 as the Leeds Fine Arts Club. Over the years many well-known and accomplished artists have been members. Today, their ranks are mainly comprised of professional artists who make their living through a combination of arts related activities.

All works in this exhibition are for sale.

View exhibition details & catalogue

Ronald Searle Remembered

28^th June – 31^st July 2012

Following the recent sad death of Ronald Searle, Leeds Gallery in association with the Chris Beetles Gallery is hosting an exhibition to celebrate the abundant talents of this very special man.

Paying tribute to the greatest cartoonist of the 20th century, this exhibition of over 100 works, enhanced by new research and narrative within the accompanying catalogue, explores the full range of Ronald Searle’s formidable career from his student drawings to his late book and magazine illustrations.

His most famous creations and best-loved characters, including Molesworth and Lemon Hart, reveal his unrivalled wit and fluent interpretative line.

His lesser known, but equally incisive visual reportage on political, artistic and literary issues of the day are explored and, alongside drawings and sketches are significant groups of unpublished letters providing new biographical insights into the life and loves of this remarkable man, all of which will be on display and available to buy.

The accompanying catalogue, of over 200 pages, is fully illustrated and contains newly researched essays and notes. We have a limited selection of exhibition catalogues and books available from the gallery and from the Leeds Gallery online shop.

All works in this exhibition are for sale.

View exhibition details & catalogue

Grief Series: What is Left

4^th July 2012

This is a one day event that will take place during ‘Ronald Searle Remembered’.

What is Left is a participatory portraiture project being made by Leeds-based artist Ellie Harrison, photographer Roshana Rubin Mayhew and 50 members of the public.

Working with individuals, community groups and bereavement charities, Ellie and Roshana wil generate 50 portraits with corresponding texts in collaboration with participants.

Photographed in their own homes with objects they have inherited from lost loved ones, the project will explore the value we invest in these, both monetary and emotional and the ways in which these objects mediate our relationships with the dead through memory.

PREVIEW EVENT: 4^th July 7pm

Ellie and Roshana have been working with participants since April and have created 11 portraits and texts ready to be shared with the public, as well as a group of public, artists, clinicians, bereavement charities and interest groups.

This event is one of two showings in Leeds and Manchester aimed at creating an informal space to view the outcomes of the project so far, feedback thoughts and find out more about the future of What is Left and The Grief Series.

www.griefseries.co.uk

Judith Levin: Northern Landscapes

28^th May – 27^th June 2012

Judith Levin is a contemporary British artist.

The moorland paintings in this exhibition are a personal response to the vast, open spaces of heather on the moors around Haworth, Ilkley and North Yorkshire; the conservation of these places are paramount to her.

All works in this exhibition are for sale.

View exhibition details & catalogue

Defined:Obscurity

17^th – 26^th May 2012

The work in this exhibition has been curated and photographed by the DEFINED:OBSCURITY collective who are students completing their Foundation Degree in Photography at Leeds City College.

DEFINED:OBSCURITY is a part of CONTACT: the second Leeds City College Photo Festival – a multi-venue Photography Festival with exhibits throughout the city. The work encompasses photographic work from Foundation Degree and BA Hons Students. The work ranges from documentary right through to conceptual styles of photography.

Jessica Akers, Georgie Ansell, Georgina Boardman, Anna Blaszkiewicz, Dan Henzell, Zoe Hepworth, Elizabeth Matthews, Katherine Mawson, Sarah McCall, Jessica Miller, Lucy Newman, Carl Phillips, Anna Roberts, Chantelle Sissons, Jade Sutton, Joshua Tarn, Isabel Thomas, Jen Thompson, Leanne Tomlin, Jemma Tomlinson, Francesca Yorke and Jack Young.

For more information go to: definedobscurity.com or leedscitycollege.ac.uk.

Leeds Through a Lens

10^th April – 16^th May 2012

A selection of works of and about the City of Leeds and its people, shot by 15 different photographers. The photography in this show ranges from portraits to landscapes, documentary to fine art – some pieces were shot over 30 years ago, others just last week – the key that unites them all is their subject.

This exhibition includes work from: Peter Mitchell, Ryan Learoyd, Katie Bootland, Jon Stanley Austin, Jon Eland, Ricky Adam, Jonathan Emery, Rick Harrison, Liam Tansley, Oluwaseun Oyeniran, Lloyd Spencer, Sara Teresa, Max Farrar, Liam Henry and Joe Stenson.

The photographers were given no specific ‘brief’ for this project, they were simply asked to submit a selection of three or four images to represent their view of Leeds, whether that be the people, the architecture or just the atmosphere they feel it evokes – this is their unedited vision and features work from established professionals as well as relative newcomers to the medium who are exhibiting for the first time.

All works in this exhibition are for sale.

View exhibition details & catalogue

Northern Arts Uncovered

21^st April 2012

This exhibition is a one day event that will take place during ‘Leeds through a lens’ on 21^st April 2012.

For more information please go to northernartsuncovered.co.uk

The Yorkshire Artists (Part 2)

19^th March – 9^th April 2012

This exhibition is part two of our Yorkshire Artists series, showcasing a work from a selection of artists living and working in Yorkshire.

The pieces in this show from Colin Halliday and Tom Wood are original works in oil on canvas featuring a wide range of subjects from landscapes to portraits. Helen Peyton is a printmaker and we are featuring a selection of her monoprints and giclée prints. She returns to Leeds Gallery following her show as part of The Yorkshire Artists Part 1.

This series of exhibitions aims to show the broad spectrum of talent Yorkshire has to offer, juxtaposing an eclectic mix of styles from both well known and lesser known artists.

All pieces in this exhibition are for sale.

View exhibition details & catalogue

Excess all Areas: 20 Years of Back to Basics

3^rd February – 17^th March 2012

Celebrating two decades of putting the art into party, Excess All Areas draws together a collection of the iconic images used to promote just some of more than one thousand parties thrown by legendary Leeds club night Back to Basics, since it opened its doors 20 years ago. Back to Basics remains a pioneer and has retained its rock and roll ethos. Against all the odds, for a club that deliberately turned its back on commercial world of the club “brand”, Back to Basics has turned 20 and is now the longest running club night of its kind, anywhere in the world. The cultural and economic impact of Back to Basics on Leeds, and on our culture in general – the likes of Groove Armada, Basement Jaxx and Daft Punk are among those to have played their UK debut and found their feet in Basics – can not be underestimated.

Each image was created by the club’s promoter, resident artist and “the purveyor of good times”, Dave Beer, as part of an ongoing collaboration with designer Nic Gundill.

All pieces in this exhibition are for sale. Prints will continue to be available from the gallery after the exhibition has closed, please contact the gallery for availability or alternatively prints are available from the Leeds Gallery online shop.

View exhibition details & catalogue

Leeds Print Festival 2012

26^th – 31^st January 2012

Celebrating traditional and contemporary print process through type and image.

We celebrate the advent of Leeds Print Festival with an exhibition of innovative print works from regional, national and international artists and designers that will run for the duration of the festival.

The one-week Leeds Print Festival 2012 at Leeds Gallery has a programme of exhibitions, lectures, workshops, open studios and performances covering all print disciplines. This unique collection of events will deliver a dose of inspiration whilst drawing attention to print and its importance in contemporary design culture.

The Leeds Print Festival opening event is on Friday 27 January 2012 at 7pm with live printing and bookbinding. On Sunday 29 January Leeds Print Festival is proud to present a series of three talks, starting at 11am, from creatives who work with, play with and love print.

Most of the pieces in this exhibition are for sale.

View exhibition details

The Yorkshire Artists

4^th – 25^th January 2012

A selection of works from 6 contemporary artists living or working in Yorkshire. This show is part one of two, and includes works by David Cook, Drew Ward, Tony Noble, Mark Sofilas, Leslie Child and Helen Peyton.

David Cook works and lives in Malhamdale, North Yorkshire. He works in a thematic way producing works of particular locations; although the starting point may be about a place they are developed to almost abstraction using a variety of media.

Drew Ward is an artist living and working at Millbeck Studio in Leeds, West Yorkshire. His works are highly finished charcoal drawings on paper.

Tony Noble is a full time artist working from his studio in Redbrick Mill, Batley, West Yorkshire. His work features a wide range of subject matter, though in recent years he has been gaining something of a reputation as a portrait painter.

Mark Sofilas was born in Western Australia and now lives in Leeds, West Yorkshire. His paintings are inspired by the idiosyncrasies of the northern English and Scottish countryside, bringing to his work the perspective of someone who originates from a very different landscape.

Leslie Child is a watercolourist specialising in scenes both of local interest and cities throughout Europe. He lives and works in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Helen Peyton is an artist printmaker living in Skipton, North Yorkshire, who specialises in limited edition lino monoprint and lino reduction prints.

All works in this exhibition are for sale.

View exhibition details & catalogue

The Illustrators 2011

14^th November 2011 – 3^rd January 2012

This extraordinary exhibition covers the remarkable history of British illustration over the last century and includes original works by household names such as Arthur Rackham, E H Shepard, William Heath Robinson, The Walt Disney Studio, Ronald Searle, Quentin Blake and Oliver Jeffers.

The Illustrators is presented in association with the Chris Beetles Gallery in London; Chris Beetles has championed the innovative world of illustration for the last thirty-five years, producing outstanding annual exhibitions and museum quality catalogues which have stimulated this formerly overlooked area of collectable art. Carefully selected from their extensive collection these works are being shown in Leeds for the first time.

All works in this exhibition are for sale.

A selection of books are available including signed, first edition and out of print titles illustrated by many of the featured artists. Events and readings at the gallery and around Leeds will take place throughout November and December, please contact the gallery for more information or check for updates on Twitter.

View exhibition details & catalogue

Terry O’Neill: 50 Years At The Top

14^th September 2011 – 13^th November 2011

It was 50 years ago that Terry O’Neill first picked up a camera and began an astonishing career. First becoming a key photographer in London’s heady 1960s cultural milieu, he went on to capture most major stars of stage and screen and has helped to define our very notion of ‘celebrity’. From his famous photographs of Brigitte Bardot smoking a cigar and Faye Dunaway the morning after her Oscar win to his 2007 portrait of Amy Winehouse, these iconic images have made Terry one of the world’s most popular and collectible photographers.

Terry’s work forms a visual Who’s Who of cinema, rock and pop music, theatre and fashion over five decades. His sitters have included Brigitte Bardot, Frank Sinatra, Faye Dunaway, Michael Caine, Audrey Hepburn, Paul Newman, Lee Marvin, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. His photographs offer an intimate insight into their lives, both private and public.

The exhibition is a mix of striking modern prints that Terry O’Neill has created from his original negatives; many have been recently discovered during extensive research of his archive. The show runs from 15^th September until 12^th November 2011.

The catalogue for this show is a selection from three previous exhibitions of O’Neill’s work at the prestigious London gallery Chris Beetles Fine Photographs with additional pieces shown exclusively in Leeds. This exhibition is presented by Leeds Gallery in association with the Chris Beetles gallery in London and brings Terry O’Neill’s work to Yorkshire for the first time.

If you are interested in purchasing any of these photographs, or others by Terry O’Neill after the exhibition, please contact the gallery as we may be able to secure them directly from his archive.

View exhibition details & catalogue