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New artists display their work after graduating from Leeds College of Art

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By Barbara Klonowska

AN EXHIBITION of the work of some of the most cutting edge new artists in Leeds has been pulling in hundreds of visitors during its week-long run.

The Creative Practice Show started on October 27 and 150 people attended on the opening day. The exhibition runs until Sunday (November 6).

Eleven students from Leeds College of Art – including graphic designers, craft designers, a landscape painter, photographers and a graffiti painter – displayed their work at a creative show in one of the city’s independent galleries, Studio 24.

art-3One of the pieces of work at the exhibition was a “soap box”, a selection of images on soaps, which were made by students. The portraits on the soaps were of students from a multicultural school in Bradford.

One of the artists, John Gamble, said: “I was interested to see what other people made of it, how they interact with it.

“So much is going on in Leeds. If you want to be an artist you need that support network around you.

“Being an artist is incredibly hard work and it’s a lot of skills to learn. Learning from other students and having that freedom and that time to engage with the creative process in the classroom or workshop environment is incredibly beneficial.”

Some of the artists live in Leeds, others came here especially to study their MA in Creative Practice at Leeds Collegeart-2 of Art.

Artist Richard Dennis, who came from London to do the course, said: “Leeds is a great city for an artists to come and establish themselves. It’s not too big but it’s big enough for things to be happening. I’ve really enjoyed my two years in Leeds.”

Visitors have a chance to talk to artists and ask questions about their work, exhibitions and plans for the future or even about the college, as they recently graduated.

Artist Lorna Jewitt said: “To be truly creative, it needs time and effort.”

“Sweat, tears and fun,” added another artist, Morticia. “You don’t have to go to school to be creative but you get huge amount out of this, it will make you even more creative.”

What do you think?