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by mia hadjigeorgiou
While the city of Leeds may not be famed for its eclectic art collections, Leeds Art Gallery behind Millennium Square houses an impressive variety of artwork, from traditional oil paintings to more abstract modern sculptures and exhibitions. In all honesty, I’m ashamed to admit it took me nearly 3 years of living in Leeds before I visited.
Upon first entry, located straight ahead is The Arnold and Marjorie Ziff Gallery, which in my opinion, contains some of the most splendid pieces in the whole art gallery, including Edward Matthew Hale’s 1894 ‘The Mermaid’s Rock’, and Edward Armitage’s 1858 ‘Retribution’.
The oil on canvas brushwork in both of these pieces is nuanced and breathtaking, allowing both to appear three-dimensional, and the gallery’s dark-red walls provide the perfect backdrop to bring out the lighter blue tones in ‘The Mermaid’s Rock’.
Continuing on upstairs there lies a selection of sculptures and statues draped in natural daylight, all thanks to the gallery’s vast skylights which form a glass ceiling spanning almost the entirety of upstairs.
Some pieces, like Barbara Hepworth’s 1953 Ancaster stone ‘Hieroglyph’, are more traditional, while other pieces like Phyllida Barlow’s 2011 ‘RIG: untitled; stage chairs’ are far more abstract. This means that no matter which type of art connects with you most, there will almost definitely be something for everyone to enjoy.
The only slight let-down at Leeds Art Gallery is its downstairs café, which appears enticing at first but was lacking in facilities during a recent visit. Most sandwiches and tables were gone by lunch-time and there were no iced drinks despite the hot weather, which in all honesty, was a slightly disappointing way to end the visit.
Nevertheless, the art itself was wonderful, and with exhibitions always changing around in order to showcase the thousands of pieces in their collection, Leeds Art Gallery always has something fresh to offer. On top of that, admission is entirely free for all visitors all the time, so the gallery is economically accessible to all.
pictures by mia hadjigeorgiou
