With summer on the horizon, despite the weather at the start of the week, unsure what it wanted to do, comes a sea change across some of Leeds ’ most vaunted creative hubs.
None more so than the exhibition scheduled to take place this month at Leeds Art University, where the students are set to showcase their works in their annual end-of-year showcase, while elsewhere in West Leeds, the work of Luisa Freitas is exhibited in a space opposite the Industrial Museum.
There’s a host of incredible, insightful and sometimes surreal works that have either just started exhibiting in the city, or are about to, as we head into peak summer vacation season - and we’ve taken a look through some of the listings in the art world to bring to you 16 exhibitions and installations taking place throughout June.
From grassroots neighbourhood spaces to major city centre galleries, here is what’s on across Leeds this month
7. Music Leeds Us: Celebrating 60 Years of Music in Leeds (Running until June 28)
Your last chance to visit the deeply nostalgic archival journey mapping out six decades of loud subcultures, iconic independent venues, and historic gig subversion that shaped the city’s unique sonic DNA. 🎨 Millennium Square, LS2 8BH | Local Library
8. Grounded by Courtney Spencer (Running until July 31)
A serene, textured solo showcase utilising salvaged local materials and canvas installations designed to root the viewer in a sense of spatial awareness, raw texture, and natural balance. 🎨 Eye Room, 9 Mill Hill, LS1 5DQ | Provided
9. Cecil Beaton: Staging Icons (June 13 - October 4)
A dazzling loan showcase from the National Portrait Gallery featuring over 50 era-defining portraits of stars like Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, charting how Beaton used lavish, theatrical set design to fashion the public identities of 20th-century cultural titans. 🎨 Harewood House, Harewood, LS17 9LG | Local Library
10. Bish Bash Bosh (June 15 - June 20)
The highly anticipated, raw, and high-energy annual undergraduate degree show and public showcase spotlighting the bold graduation projects across all creative disciplines at Leeds Art University. 🎨 Blenheim Walk, Woodhouse, LS2 9AQ | Provided
11. Curator’s Tour of Phantasmagoria: Folkloric Sculpture for the Digital Age (June 18)
An intimate, expert-led evening walkthrough uncovering how physical, folklore-driven sculptures collide with ancient myths and modern digital structures. 🎨reinterpreted through modern, digital-age sculpture. 🖼️ Sculpture Gallery, Henry Moore Institute, 74 The Headrow, LS1 3AH | Henry Moore Foundation
12. Cabaret Mystic (June 18)
A surreal and performance-driven pop-up art feature that subverts expectations by moving alternative visual art out of conventional white-cube galleries and into a traditional working men's club setting. 🎨 Rowland Road WMC, 38 Rowland Road, LS11 6ED | Jules Lister