A kind of photo-diary from Alan Dearling
My focus recently on a day out on a ‘walkabout’ in Leeds City Centre was the ‘Plant Dreaming’ show at Leeds Art Gallery. But I don’t go to the city very often, so I decided to create a photo-diary of as much of the art and exhibitions as possible at the main Leeds Art Gallery, the Henry Moore Institute gallery and the Leeds City Museum.
‘Plant Dreaming’ explores a number of imaginative, alternative perspectives on plants, fungi, and our interconnected planet. An unusual, powerful and diverse range of images and ideas displayed by the artists. It contains works by artists including Emma Talbot, Noémie Goudal, Yan Wang Preston, SHARP, Jane Lawson, Aliyah Hussain and Charmaine Watkiss, the exhibition features large scale textile works, ceramics, drawings, photography, and film.
Also at the Leeds Art Gallery is: ‘Don’t Let’s Ask For the Moon…We Have the Stars’: Nocturnes and the works of Victorian artist, John Atkinson Grimshaw is a strange and enveloping set of exhibits. His famous fairy painting is still stunning and modern. In my photograph I used a reflection of another ‘neon’ exhibit to add another even more surreal layer.
They sit alongside works by four contemporary painters – Elizabeth Magill, Selma Makela, Judith Tucker and Joanna Whittle – as well as neon and photographic works by Roger Palmer.
‘Plant Dreaming’ and ‘Don’t Let’s Ask for the Moon…’ special exhibitions continue at the Leeds Art Gallery until 19th April 2026. Next door is the Henry Moore Institute which is interconnected internally.
