UNIT 8 Primary Research: Leeds City Museum

Leeds City Museum is one of the places I visited in order to collect primary research for my project. This was the only museum I had found that currently had an exhibition up that was relevant to my work: 'The Changing Faces of Leeds'. However I also discovered useful pieces of research within other exhibitions and permanent collections throughout the museum. Visiting the museum was an enjoyable experience as this is one of my favourite museums within Yorkshire: the exhibitions are always interesting and beautifully presented.

'The Changing Faces of Leeds'

Due to the influence of Ed Fairburn's artwork I decided to collect research from 'The Changing Faces of Leeds' exhibition to explore portraiture as I wanted to incorporate the art form with cartography in my own project. The exhibition was excellent for collecting research as I was provided with a large variety of portraiture: Diversity among the age, gender and race of the models. Although the majority of the work was photography based I found some paintings. drawings and collages within the collection. My favourite aspect of the exhibition was the context that all the models were from Leeds and the collection showcased the unity and diversity amongst the local community. I will use this research to explore facial structure and to help me produce ideas towards how I will combine portraiture with cartography in a creative way that showcases my style and skills.

Floor map of the Borough of Leeds

During my visit to Leeds City Museum I found an incredibly useful piece of research within the Leeds Arena room where a large map of the Leeds Borough Area was printed onto the floor. This research allowed me to think about cartography and scale: how big would I want my final piece to be? This is a question I will ask myself later on in the development stage of my ideas however I know for a fact I will have to be wary of the cost of materials when thinking about scale. 

 

 

 

 



 

My sketchbook pages on the 'Changing Faces of Leeds' exhibition