[uz], [uz], [uz] & them: a celebration of working class art

Francesca Langley covers the opening night of the [uz], [uz], [uz] exhibition at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery.

Named after the late Leeds poet Tony Harrison’s ‘Them and [uz]’, the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery hosted a celebration of working-class art that featured glances into intersectionality, with artists whose work is informed by their race, gender and sexuality.  

The Parkinson building was abuzz with excitement from the attendees, a variety of ages and backgrounds gathering by the first piece. Suspended above the entrance to the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, hung a parachute with the neon script: “If this is a safe space, why is it safe and who is it safe from?”. Setting the atmosphere for the exhibition, this piece was extremely poignant. With the arts having been under constant scrutiny in the past decade, with rampant discourse about ‘deserves’ a place in the creative sphere; the metaphorical parachute symbolises the artists’ ‘soft place to land’.   

We were welcomed by Jane Gallagher, Director of Cultural Collections & Curatorial Practice. Gallagher expressed the importance of community, culture and impact, all paramount to the exhibition. The showcase contained a multitude of medias, such as cross-stitching, videography and sculpture work. A common theme woven through the entire exhibition was heart, a deep love for storytelling and the experiences that shaped the featured artists, who were more than willing to share the innerworkings of their process. Not only was the work class-conscious, but environmentally aware, with pieces crafted from pre-used materials.  

Sculpture artist and Leeds alum Connor Shields’ Kiss Me Again (2021) exemplifies this. Assembling the juxtaposing soft pillow with rigid scaffolding in a romantic piece seemed violent at first. But, with closer inspection, the piece is passionate, symbolising a lovers‘ embrace. Shields‘ work invites the viewer to form a personal relationship with the piece. Even as someone who doesn’t find it easy to connect with this medium of art, I was transfixed.

Charlotte Dawson’s painstakingly detailed cross-stitching evoked a strong sense of nostalgia in her piece English Rose & British Beef. Her investigation into texture through the medium of cross-stitch gives her piece a multi-dimensional sensory experience. The fresh rose cutting through bloody beef reflects the lives of the working-class towns that I grew up in, passing flower stalls and butchers with friends. Dawson went on to discuss how she draws her inspiration from ‘vessels’, an apt metaphor for the gallery that night; a holding space, full to the brim with culture.

Thomas Griffiths’ Assimilate also marries violence and romance. Having drawn inspiration from JG Ballard’s Crash, their work takes an intimate look into toxic masculinity and the thrill of vehicular irresponsibility. Griffiths beautifully upholstered two motorbike seats together on an upcycled metal frame. It’s an intimate melding of materials that illustrate how “violent imagery connotes desire”.

My first experience at an art exhibition skilfully affirmed my love for the arts, even if I didn’t ‘get’ a piece, it made me feel something, therefore achieving its goal. In a time in which it seems society is determined to drive the arts to extinction, seeing the work of artists whose lives resemble my own has restored my faith that if there is life, there will always be art. 

Words by Francesca Langley

[uz], [uz], [uz] is on display in the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery until the 6th June 2026.