Leeds Uni Library Galleries

💛 [uz], [uz], [uz]: Artists from Working-Class Backgrounds 💛 Challenge your expectations in this landmark group exhibition. ‘[uz], [uz], [uz]’ is a celebration of the breadth and vitality of work by artists from working-class backgrounds. It features the work of over thirty modern and contemporary artists who were born in or have significant connections to Yorkshire. Their works range in medium, including painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, installation and film. The exhibition is also a challenge to class-related prejudices and stereotypes. Whilst privileging working-class voices, ‘[uz], [uz], [uz]’ aims not to reduce artists’ practice to their class. Instead, we recognise and celebrate the complexity of their realities and experiences. The exhibition brings to the fore intersectional experiences. These include Black, Queer, feminist and disabled perspectives. The exhibition also includes selected works from the University Art Collection, many of which are being shown for the first time. List of Artists: Wendy Abbott Terry Atkinson Simeon Barclay David Blackburn Jim Brook @jimlbrook Francis Butterfield Tony Carter Grace Clifford @horse_odyssey_ Kedisha Coakley @kedishacoakley Joanne Coates @joannecoates_ Dennis Creffield Charlotte Saint Cullen @charlottesaintcullen Charlotte Dawson @charlottedawsonart George Storm Fletcher @georgeartgreg Terry Frost Thomas Griffiths @tlgrrrr Will Hughes @will_hughes_art_ Sam Hutchinson @realbadtime Mia Jones @spud.gun_ Arthur Kitching Mary Lord Jill McKnight @jillmcknight Sam Metz @chippedpale Henry Moore Philip Naviasky Joseph Pighills Conor Rogers @conor___rogers Lydia Shearsmith Connor Shields @connorshields Beth Smith Bethany Stead @bethanystead_ Norman Stevens Maud Sulter Harry Thubron Lucy Wright @lucy_j_wright Ajamu X @ajamustudios [uz], [uz], [uz]: Artists from Working-Class Backgrounds opens at a special evening event on Tuesday 18 November, 17:30 – 19:30. The exhibition is at The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery between 19 November 2025 - 6 June 2026. Find all the info at the links in bio. Poster design by @rachelo.studio

👤 Who am I to you? 👤 Celebrate ten years of the Treasures of the Brotherton with a bold reimagining of our collection of portrait busts. Since opening in 2016, Treasures of the Brotherton has introduced over 100,000 visitors to the extraordinary Cultural Collections cared for by the University of Leeds. It is a place to share our curiosity about the world. We've sought to invite conversation, spark inspiration, and explored some of the most important questions of our time. Now in 2026 we ask: Who am I to you? Who am I to you? encourages you to see familiar faces in a new light. Explore identity, representation and public memory through sculpture, rare books and 3D technologies. Encounter life casts, coins and medals that challenge traditional ideas of portraiture. Discover how art and science shape our understanding of people, power and cultural heritage.  The exhibition invites reflection on what these objects can tell us about our shared past and present. It also explores the silences and absences that shape who is remembered, and who is forgotten. Who am I to you? is at Treasures of the Brotherton from 3 February - 3 October 2026. Free and open to all. Find out more at the link in bio.

“Being faithful to the diversity of the artists involved; avoiding tropes; challenging stereotypes … celebrating the enormous vitality and creativity of artists from working-class backgrounds”. In our latest episode of our Curating Class podcast series, Exhibitions Curator at The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery Dr Laura Claveria tells us about the process of curating our current exhibition [uz], [uz], [uz]: Artists from Working-Class Backgrounds. Dr Simon Marginson discusses how he researched the University of Leeds’ Art Collection in preparation for the exhibition, and the methodology he developed for what’s thought to be the first full class audit attempted by a gallery or collection. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts via Gloves Off at the link in bio. Co-produced by University of Leeds Cultural Collections & Galleries and @workingclassbritish .   📷 Mary Lord, Sunset (detail), 1964, oil on board. *Orphan work. 📷 Harry Thubron, Composition (detail), c.1970, mixed media. ©Estate of the Artist. 📷 Terry Frost, Mars Red, Yellow and Brown (detail), 1957, oil on canvas. © Courtesy of the Estate of Terry Frost. 📷 Joseph Pighills, Still Life (detail), undated, gouache on paper. ©Estate of the Artist. 📷 Wendy Abbott, In Heavy Air (detail), 1968, oil on canvas. *Orphan work. 📷 Arthur Kitching, Wrestlers II (detail), c.1966, oil on board. ©Estate of the Artist. All works from Cultural Collections & Galleries, University of Leeds Libraries, Art Collection.   *No rightholder(s) have been identified or, if one or more of them have been identified, none has been located despite a diligent search for the rightholders having been carried out. If you have information about the identity or the location of the rightholder(s), please contact us. _ #CuratingClass #GlovesOff #Podcast

“It is readily that this conversation across channels, flows” In December, we invited @leeds_star society (Student Action for Refugees) to visit our exhibition ‘In Touch, with Nature’, co-curated with a group of Leeds women.🌿 We commissioned students to produce an artistic response to the exhibition and discuss what it meant to them. STAR member Evie produced a beautiful response, comprising of illustrations and poetry. Listen to the sounds of nature and Evie’s reflections on language, migration and belonging. 🤍 “What I observed in the exhibition consisted of symbolism of nature coupled with that of stability and structure. The minimal colour - every piece being either entirely monotone in greyscale (largely white), or with pops of colour - this primarily being flowers, indicated foundations both natural and city-specific. I therefore experimented with simple line drawings and photographed where stonework and nature interacted in spaces in Leeds. With the poem I refer to a perspective on what Art can be. I believe that when people are given this ‘third language’ (art), that neither them nor their recipient is expected to be more fluent in (in a community project context), people are more able to be honest. Art’s subjective nature means that while a viewer will never interpret an artist’s work exactly how they intended, fundamentally the viewer is only consuming what the artist has presented. What the artist is saying is not being forced into a different language that might not mean the same thing when heard by the viewer. This idea speaks back to what I have often found during STAR’s Conversation Club sessions, where neither learner nor volunteer knows each other’s language, we naturally begin to try using different means of interpretation such as drawing or body language.” – Evie STAR provides volunteering, campaigning and fundraising opportunities in support of refugees, with the aim to spread awareness, gain support and create change. In Touch, With Nature was part of our Welcoming Migrants programme, run in partnership with Leeds Asylum Seeker Support Network @lassnleeds and supported by textile artist Ranya Abdulateef @rumanh94

One fascinating part of Leeds city centre you’ve probably never explored 😯 In the heart of the University of Leeds campus, these galleries and public art trail are completely free to visit! 🙌🎨 Everyone knows the landmark Parkinson Building on Woodhouse Lane. But did you know that inside - it isn’t just for students..? It’s home to the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery and, until 6th June, a public exhibition titled [uz], [uz], [uz] - celebrating the work of artists from working-class backgrounds linked to Yorkshire. The Treasures of Brotherton Gallery celebrates its 10th birthday this year and is hosting “Who Am I to You?” - an exhibition using 3D scanning and printing to bring the old bust collection into the new age! That one’s open here too - right through until Saturday 3rd October. Whilst you’re inside either gallery you’ll spot a free Public Art Trail map - allowing you to explore the beautiful University of Leeds campus through sculpture! Look out for the famous ‘Sign for Art’ sculpture (aka the ‘wavy bacon’ to those in the know 🥓) - and plenty more stunning pieces dotted across the campus. There are 20 sculptures to discover in total on the art trail. Everything’s free - just search “University of Leeds Library Galleries” for more info, or check out their Insta @lulgalleries ! #leeds #uol #leedsuni #thingstodoinleeds #leedscitycentre @universityofleeds @leedsunilibraries

“what were you like in the 90s?” 💌 We’ve been digging in the archives and uncovered these gems. Recognise any familiar spots? 📷 Photographs from the University of Leeds Archive. LUA/PHC/003 and LUA/PHC/009. _ #UniversityOfLeeds #CampusLife #Student #90s #Archive

Coinciding with the final month of [uz], [uz], [uz]: Artists from Working-Class Backgrounds in The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, our new weekly podcast series starts today: Curating Class. We’ll be hearing from art historians, curators and artists about making, collecting, researching, exhibiting and talking about work by artists from working-class backgrounds. Dr Rebecca Starr, Lecturer in History of Art @fahacs , kicks us off with a look at art history’s relationship with class. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts via the link in bio. Co-produced by University of Leeds Cultural Collections & Galleries and @workingclassbritish . #CuratingClass #GlovesOff #Podcast

Share Your Story: Help Preserve LGBTQ+ Histories at the University of Leeds!  🏳️‍🌈 Catch up with the work of our LGBTQ+ Project Intern, Leyao, who’s working to uncover and celebrate Queer histories within the University’s archives. LGBTQ+ histories have not always entered the archive in direct ways. Instead, they often survive in more subtle or indirect forms that may not immediately appear connected to LGBTQ+ narratives. But this is where you can help make a difference! We would love your story to become part of the University’s LGBTQ+ history and to help ensure more voices are heard. 📣🏳️‍🌈 Whether you were directly involved in LGBTQ+ societies, communities, or events on campus, or simply have something you think may be relevant to share, we would be very glad to hear from you. We are especially interested in hearing from anyone who remembers the first dedicated conference for trans people in the UK, ‘Transvestism and Transsexualism in Modern Society’, hosted by the Beaumont Society and held at the University of Leeds from 15–17 March 1974. 🏳️‍⚧️ Anything you have to share connected to LGBTQ+ life on campus can help strengthen the historical record. 💛 If you would like to share material, memories, or simply ask a question, please get in touch with us at [email protected]. Read the full blog post via the link in bio 🔗 _ #LGBTQHistory #StudentVoice #UntoldPride #QueerArchives #TransHistory

⏳ One week to go! A Continuous Circulation: Artists and Art Education in Mid-century Leeds – Selections from the archive of Maurice de Sausmarez closes Saturday 9 May at The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery. Discover Leeds’ history as a centre for new thinking on art education through the archive of an artist in the middle of it all. We’ll take you to 1950s post-war Leeds - a dynamic meeting point for artist-educators and radical new thinkers… 💡💭 The exhibition is curated by Dr Kerry Harker @kerryharker , Bridget Riley Art Foundation Fellow. The exhibition is generously supported by the Bridget Riley Art Foundation. _ #MauriceDeSausmarez #PostWarArt #ModernBritishArt #BritishDesign #UniversityOfLeeds

Celebrate International Workers' Day with [uz] Our May Day has been made by the (re)opening of our landmark exhibition of art by working-class artists, '[uz], [uz], [uz]' - an excellent start to the bank holiday weekend! This evening, our event interns Estie, Caitlín, Baraa, and Alex are hosting 'With [uz]: Poetry, Art & Conversation' for fellow students on campus. They'll be joined by [uz], [uz], [uz] exhibiting artist @georgeartgreg and @luu_spokenword for a creative evening inspired by Tony Harrison’s poem ‘Them and [uz]’. And this weekend, we're super excited for @offbeatfilm 's Reet Northern May Day Party @themildmayclub curated by [uz], [uz], [uz] exhibiting artist @lucy_j_wright . Lucy Wright’s practice sits at the intersection of folklore and activism, often using her extensive research into lesser-known contemporary and female-led folk customs as source material. Her work is concerned with exploring folk as an agent for resistance and change - speaking to the culture we create for ourselves and its radical potential. She says: "The history of folklore has a representation issue. Folk collectors in the nineteenth and early twentieth century often overlooked or disregarded traditions associated with women and other marginalized people. They also privileged rural areas over urban ones as the sites of “authentic” folk practices. In particular, the industrial north was neglected by scholars despite being home to a rich and unique folk culture. My Green Woman reimagines the historical archetype of the foliate-headed “green man” as a gender-flipped and manifestly 21st-century being. Her metallic leaves and sequined legs reference the contemporary materials used in many present-day folk customs – especially those still practiced in working-class communities, and rarely identified as “traditional”." — Lucy Wright - #InternationalWorkersDay #MayDay #LabourDay #BankHoliday #UzUzUz

Some legacies really do stand tall… 🏛️ 🏙️ A successful electrical engineer, University of Leeds alumnus, and major benefactor, come with us to find out the name behind the iconic clock tower that has become the emblem for the University of Leeds. 📷 Department of, 1889-1954. LUA/PHC/002/46 🗃️ Archival materials related to Frank Parkinson. LUA/PHC/010/37. Image credit University of Leeds. _ #ParkinsonBuilding #FrankParkinson #Parky #Peregrines #UniversityOfLeeds

Congratulations to Simeon Barclay on his nomination for the 2026 Turner Prize. 🙌 Simeon Barclay's 'If This is a Safe Space', currently installed above the entrance to The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, was commissioned for the University Art Collection to coincide with our current exhibition [uz], [uz], [uz]: Artists from Working-Class Backgrounds. The piece reflects Simeon Barclay’s experience of navigating the UK education system as a Black person from a working-class background. In the artist’s words: "If This is a Safe Space addresses the complexities of moving through thresholds, the anxiety of adapting to new social norms and the psychological questioning born of being in uncharted territory." Congratulations also to Kira Freije for her nomination, whose work 'On the Underside of her Breath' was exhibited in our Contested Bodies exhibition in 2023. And congratulations to the other nominees Marguerite Humeau and Tanoa Sasraku. We look forward to seeing the work of all four Turner Prize 2026 nominees @mimauseful later this year! 💫 📷 1-3: Simeon Barclay, 'If This is a Safe Space', 2025, decommissioned parachute and neon. ©The Artist. Cultural Collections & Galleries, University of Leeds Libraries, Art Collection. Photo: Mark Webster. 📷 4: Kira Freije, 'On the Underside of her Breath', 2019, steel, cast aluminium and fur. ©The Artist. - #TurnerPrize #SimeonBarclay #KiraFreije #MargueriteHumeau #TanoaSasraku