From My Bed
29th April - 8th May 2026
From My Bed co-curated by Fine Art Students Joanna Tiffany and Abbie Bruff.
The exhibition considers artworks created from the bed due to reasons of health, poverty, or protest to explore human vulnerability, adaptability and endurance and includes contributions from Yoko Ono, Mary McCartney, Wakefield Mental Health Museum, Bluecoat, In Transit and more.
Exhibition photograph of ‘Idle Hands’ a mixed-media textile blanket made up of white cotton, embroidery thread, three calico cyanotyped squares. The blanket is displayed on a vintage brown leather armchair, draped over its arm rest and coming to rest onto the cushion of the chair. Displayed at a three-quarter angle placed on a medium grey floor, with other artworks behind it on a white wall.
From My Bed Exhibition photograph of Liz Samway's artwork against a white wall in the White Column gallery. The artwork comprises three separate black & white photographs, linked and covered with an overlaying network of webbed blue thread that continues out onto the gallery walls. Each photo depicts different features of a loft bedroom and was taken from the viewpoint of lying in bed looking up or out. On the left is a grainy image of a closed Velux window in the ceiling of a loft room, taken from an angle below. A chimney stack and aerial can be seen through the window. There are strong contrasts with the Velux making a bright white rhomboid shape in the dark ceiling. In the central image there is a dormer window with three panes at the far end of the room with a half-closed blind. Surrounding the window is a pair of curtains with a leaf pattern. On top of the dressing table, under the window there are various bottles and framed photos which can just be made out. Bare tree branches are framed by the window frames. Finally, on the right the image shows a flat ceiling with the top of an open door and a shadow diagonally across the ceiling towards a central light fitting which is oval and looks a bit like a flying saucer. There are clothes on a hanger on the side of a wardrobe, and the door has a woodgrain pattern.
Rose Garrard's '‘Talisman: The Steel Knife of Her Grandmother’ photographed against a white wall in the White Column space. A grouping of nude figures drawn into the grey wash on the ground, filling the picture plane, intersecting each other, and with a sense of falling. In the centre at the bottom is an open penknife is superimposed in a realistic mode and rendered in a darker grey. Along the bottom edge is an inscription written in pencil, which reads ‘`Give heed to my poverty and my wealth. Do not be arrogant when I am cast out upon the earth, for you will find me in those that are to come... And do not cast me out among those who are slain in violence, for I am compassionate, yet I am cruel.' The drawing sits in the centre of the frame, surrounded by a thick border of blank paper.
From My Bed Exhibition photograph of Liz Sayway's artwork against a white wall in the White Column gallery. The artwork comprises three separate black & white photographs, linked and covered with an overlaying network of webbed blue thread that continues out onto the gallery walls. Each photo depicts different features of a loft bedroom and was taken from the viewpoint of lying in bed looking up or out. On the left is a grainy image of a closed Velux window in the ceiling of a loft room, taken from an angle below. A chimney stack and aerial can be seen through the window. There are strong contrasts with the Velux making a bright white rhomboid shape in the dark ceiling. In the central image there is a dormer window with three panes at the far end of the room with a half-closed blind. Surrounding the window is a pair of curtains with a leaf pattern. On top of the dressing table, under the window there are various bottles and framed photos which can just be made out. Bare tree branches are framed by the window frames. Finally, on the right the image shows a flat ceiling with the top of an open door and a shadow diagonally across the ceiling towards a central light fitting which is oval and looks a bit like a flying saucer. There are clothes on a hanger on the side of a wardrobe, and the door has a woodgrain pattern.
Harry Meadley's artwork photographed high up on a white wall in the White Column space. A white shoe box sized form protrudes from the upper part of a white gallery wall. It is positioned so even a tall person would look up at it. The box’s surface is the same white paint as the wall. The corners and panels of the box are not perfectly square and sticks out from the wall length ways.
Harry Meadley's artwork photographed high up on a white wall in the White Column space. A white shoe box sized form protrudes from the upper part of a white gallery wall. It is positioned so even a tall person would look up at it. The box’s surface is the same white paint as the wall. The corners and panels of the box are not perfectly square and sticks out from the wall length ways.
Rose Garrard's '‘Talisman: The Steel Knife of Her Grandmother’ photographed against a white wall in the White Column space. A grouping of nude figures drawn into the grey wash on the ground, filling the picture plane, intersecting each other, and with a sense of falling. In the centre at the bottom is an open penknife is superimposed in a realistic mode and rendered in a darker grey. Along the bottom edge is an inscription written in pencil, which reads ‘`Give heed to my poverty and my wealth. Do not be arrogant when I am cast out upon the earth, for you will find me in those that are to come... And do not cast me out among those who are slain in violence, for I am compassionate, yet I am cruel.' The drawing sits in the centre of the frame, surrounded by a thick border of blank paper.
Peter Ashworth's artwork photographed against a white wall in the White Column space. The back of a 12” record sleeve featuring a close-up of an image of a pale-blue bed mattress, strong lighting from the left to increase shadows on the right to accentuate the curves of the buttoned-back surface, the border is a plain pale blue to frame. Over the mattress in white text lists the name of the band, song titles and credits in smaller text.
From My Bed’ exhibition photograph of Mandy Shepherd's ‘From My Bedroom Window’ against a white wall in the gallery. The artwork is a white A2 sized mixed media artwork. The canvas background is covered with plaster of Paris using a palette knife creating textured ridges and then painted with acrylic paint. The wide border replicates a bed; covered in old white pillowcases, puffy as if stuffed with wadding creating folds and creases mimicking textures of pillows, duvets and mattresses. Then going inwards framing the middle is a crochet chain becoming a window, within this in the top left is a large yarn pompom and in the bottom right is an arrangement of different crocheted, braided, pompom, wrapped yarn flowers.
Mary McCartney's 'Tracy Emin as Frida Kahlo' photographed against a white wall in the White Column space. It shows: “Artist Tracey Emin, laid centrally and propped up on white cushions in bed, dressed as painter Frida Kahlo. Staring forward whilst at rest in bed with an array of small black and white family photos displayed on the headboard. Tracey Emin dressed as Frida Kahlo reclining in a bed reminiscent of Frida Kahlo’s with black postcard sized black and white personal photos of her family and friends tucked into the headboard. Styled to looked like Frida, Tracey has red roses and carnations pinned in her hair and is wearing a white cotton blouse with royal blue embroidery detail and black skirt. She has a ring on all of her finders in silver and turquoise and has had her make up applied to feel like Frida, with red lipstick and unibrow. Tracey is channelling Frida in expression as she looks directly to camera and the viewer.”
Exhibition photo of Vivify Project's ‘Wooden Dream Houses’ displayed on a white plinth placed on a grey floor within the White Column space. The sculpture depicts the front of a house, made from rough grained timber, jig sawed pieced together leaving gaps for delicate pen drawings of domestic scenes or pieces of furniture for example a bed. There are five of these gaps strategically placed like windows two on the left and two on the right, one on top of each other and then one in the attic area of the house, each with a drawing and covered with a protruding paper hinged wooden door giving it the ability to be opened. Also, a piece of wood is used to mimic the door of the house, that protrudes like the others, this however does not have a hinge. On each of these doors there are different sentences, like ‘I get up in the morning, that’s the best thing’, ‘I’m always happy, no use being sad’ and ‘Cock-a Doodle Quack’. In the centre in-between the windows and door is a plaster of Paris floorplan or house plan resembling a map or x-ray of a building, with ten small square foundation shapes and six circles. The back of the sculpture is plain wood and with a timber post attached in the middle to support displaying.
Three quarter exhibition photo of Vivify Project's ‘Wooden Dream Houses’ displayed on a white plinth placed on a grey floor within the White Column space. The sculpture depicts the front of a house, made from rough grained timber, jig sawed pieced together leaving gaps for delicate pen drawings of domestic scenes or pieces of furniture for example a bed. There are five of these gaps strategically placed like windows two on the left and two on the right, one on top of each other and then one in the attic area of the house, each with a drawing and covered with a protruding paper hinged wooden door giving it the ability to be opened. Also, a piece of wood is used to mimic the door of the house, that protrudes like the others, this however does not have a hinge. On each of these doors there are different sentences, like ‘I get up in the morning, that’s the best thing’, ‘I’m always happy, no use being sad’ and ‘Cock-a Doodle Quack’. In the centre in-between the windows and door is a plaster of Paris floorplan or house plan resembling a map or x-ray of a building, with ten small square foundation shapes and six circles.
Alan Dunn & Kora the black Lab's artwork photographed against a window in the White Column space, of a postcard-sized photograph of the head and shoulders of Kora the black labrador dog laying on her back on a dark green and red Christmassy-looking duvet in bed. Captured in side-on profile, with her open mouth she tries to bite a light grey fluffy animal toy that has a tiny tag on it reading “kora lab”. She looks relaxed and playful, paws in the air, her black fur shining from the flash of the camera and body nuzzled into the thick duvet, probably late evening playtime in bed with her owner, the artist Alan Dunn. The postcard is shown both front and back, and other copies given away during opening.
Alan Dunn & Kora the black Lab's backside of the artwork photographed against a window in the White Column space.
Alan Dunn & Kora the black Lab's front artwork photographed against a window in the White Column space, of a postcard-sized photograph of the head and shoulders of Kora the black labrador dog laying on her back on a dark green and red Christmassy-looking duvet in bed. Captured in side-on profile, with her open mouth she tries to bite a light grey fluffy animal toy that has a tiny tag on it reading “kora lab”. She looks relaxed and playful, paws in the air, her black fur shining from the flash of the camera and body nuzzled into the thick duvet, probably late evening playtime in bed with her owner, the artist Alan Dunn.
Exhibition photograph of Joanne Tiffany's ‘Idle Hands’ a mixed-media textile blanket made up of white cotton, embroidery thread, two calico cyanotyped squares. The blanket is displayed on a vintage brown leather armchair, draped over its arm rest and coming to rest onto the cushion of the chair. Shown head-on, on a medium grey floor, with other artworks behind it on a white wall.
Exhibition photograph of Nicholas Shearon's artwork against a white wall in the White Column space, which is comprised of two black and white digital prints, each 85cm square, from original pencil drawings on paper and they are located one above the other. The top one depicts a woman's face drawn down the right had side of the four panels. She has wavy hair, freckles beneath her large eyes and a complex expression. Her features are seemingly impassive, no obvious emotions leap out, but her mouth is slightly downturned and her eyes open and fixed forwards. On the left is vines and text. Below on the second print is a single image that looks like three figures, made up of angular body shapes with circular looped lines for heads. The 'head' shapes are thickly drawn, dark and harsh compared to some of the more delicate lines of the bodies. The body shapes have sharp corners and repeated scribbled shading, but these are more smudged and faded, as if they have been repeatedly erased and drawn over. The figures have a gentle lean to them, as if they are stooping to listen to something at the left-hand side of the page, or possibly following each other in a line. The image is abstract and open to interpretating, but the white space around them and the sharp outline has a menacing and lonely atmosphere.
Exhibition photograph of Bini Atkinson's ‘Long Term, Long Term’ on a white wall in White Column is a mixed media artwork and it is normally in the permanent collection of the Mental Health Museum, Wakefield. The work is a twenty-seven-centimetre square mixed media piece. The words ‘Long Term’ are printed in rich blood red ink on medical prescription information leaflets, reading horizontally left to right. Each letter is printed on a separate leaflet. The leaflet has been folded to obscure the letter, then opened to reveal it. The letters form a four-by-four grid, with a two-row repeat of the phrase ‘Long Term’. All the borders of the leaflets have been outlined and painted with the same red as the printed letters. Each individual leaflet have a square base with four triangle sides with the tips folded over. This gives the artwork its geometrical and three-dimensional look. To finish the work, it has been placed on a white piece of square paper and placed in a black box frame.
Image of Abbie Bruff's ‘Between Panic and Pleasure’ installed in ‘From my Bed’ exhibited in the corner of the white walled gallery. A photographic installation incorporating an array of images in both black and white and colour. Installed in a scattered and layered arrangement in a collage style outstretch and spreading out over multiple walls, mimicking the way someone would put pictures and posters on their own bedroom wall. Within all the images my friends are mainly sat on their beds, surrounded by band posters, musical instruments, art supplies or simply just relaxing.
Image of Abbie Bruff's ‘Between Panic and Pleasure’ installed in ‘From my Bed’ exhibited in the corner of the white walled gallery. A photographic installation incorporating an array of images in both black and white and colour. Installed in a scattered and layered arrangement in a collage style outstretch and spreading out over multiple walls, mimicking the way someone would put pictures and posters on their own bedroom wall. Within all the images my friends are mainly sat on their beds, surrounded by band posters, musical instruments, art supplies or simply just relaxing.
Image of Abbie Bruff's ‘Between Panic and Pleasure’ installed in ‘From my Bed’ exhibited in the corner of the white walled gallery. A photographic installation incorporating an array of images in both black and white and colour. Installed in a scattered and layered arrangement in a collage style outstretch and spreading out over multiple walls, mimicking the way someone would put pictures and posters on their own bedroom wall. Within all the images my friends are mainly sat on their beds, surrounded by band posters, musical instruments, art supplies or simply just relaxing.
Exhibition photograph of Yoko Ono's 'Bed-In' a black and white photograph against a white wall in the White Column space. The artwork photograph has been taken of the performance ‘Bed In’ of artist Yoko Ono (Left) and John Lennon (right) sitting on a bed in their pyjamas, both looking dishevelled whilst holding a single flower each in their hand. A white sheeted double mattress is laid on the floor underneath the photograph with a cassette player and headset placed on top of it.
Exhibition photograph of Yoko Ono's 'Bed-In' a black and white photograph against a white wall in the White Column space. The artwork photograph has been taken of the performance ‘Bed In’ of artist Yoko Ono (Left) and John Lennon (right) sitting on a bed in their pyjamas, both looking dishevelled whilst holding a single flower each in their hand. A white sheeted double mattress is laid on the floor underneath the photograph with a cassette player and headset placed on top of it.
Close-up of Abbie Bruff and Alan Dunn's mix tape and cassette player with headset placed on the white sheet covered mattress.
External Links:
Poster Designer - Jude Drake - External Link Instagram https://www.instagram.com/gothjorts/
Poster Image credit: ‘My Bed 2026’ Sue Scott https://www.instagram.com/suescott.art/
External Links
Yorkshire Evening Post: https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/whats-on/leeds-beckett-students-secure-yoko-ono-and-mary-mccartney-artworks-for-ambitious-new-exhibition-7032359
For exhibition, accessibility, artist, and artwork information please visit the;
to the White Column Gallery: https://whitecolumn.art
All Image Credits: Harry Meadley