Current Exhibitions and Events
| Gallery | Artist | Dates |
| Anthony Earnshaw | Crossley Gallery | 5th Jul – 28th Sept |
| Millie Thompson | Upstairs / Mosaic Gallery | 5th Jul – 17th Aug |
| Pete Defty | Focus Wall | 5th Jul – 3rd Aug |
| Walkway Gallery, IOU | Two Rivers: collaborative project | Current |
| Walkway Gallery, IOU | Stewart Knights | Opens 13th March |
| Installation D Mill | Lost Workers | Permanent |
| Lego Brick Gallery | Lego Model | Permanent |
| Photography Gallery | Photographers including Martin Parr | Open now |
Anthony Earnshaw (1924 – 2001)
The Imp of Surrealism
The Crossley Gallery
5th July – 28th September 2025
Anthony Earnshaw’s artistic trajectory diverged significantly from conventional pathways. Leaving formal education at the age of 15 to enter factory work, Earnshaw was deprived of institutional artistic training. Nevertheless, compelled by an irrepressible creative spirit, he found solace in art—an act of joyous rebellion against the constraints of everyday life. His pursuit of chance encounters served as both an artistic philosophy and a means of resisting the alienation engendered by late capitalist society.
The year of Earnshaw’s birth coincided with the publication of the first Surrealist Manifesto, yet his engagement with the movement materialised only in the post-war period. The aftermath of World War II witnessed an accelerated proliferation of consumerism, generating fertile conditions for subversion—a context in which Earnshaw’s practice found resonance. A committed anarchist, he rejected authority and convention, infusing his work with irreverence, quiet defiance, and a deadpan wit that cut through sentimentality. His artistic universe was one of paradox and play—a realm where the absurd was treated with seriousness, and the everyday was transformed into something deeply strange.
Though instinctive in approach, Earnshaw’s skill as a draughtsman shaped his work in ways that defied conventional technique. His drawings and watercolors, far from being rigidly controlled, carried a fluidity that mirrored the Surrealist embrace of chance. His imagery drifted between clarity and ambiguity, where delicate washes of colour and loose, dreamlike compositions invited interpretation rather than imposed certainty. His critical artistic breakthrough emerged in 1966 with a seminal exhibition at the Leeds Institute, firmly situating him within the Surrealist tradition.
This exhibition marked a turning point, not only advancing his artistic career but also opening doors to opportunities in teaching alongside his own practice. A regular presence at Dean Clough and exhibiting alongside his wife, Gail Earnshaw, he remained deeply engaged with the creative community. Gail, honouring his legacy, has generously entrusted many of his works to the Dean Clough Collection, affirming that it is what he would have wanted. The Earnshaw estate is coming home. Anthony’s anarchic ethos, plain-spoken humour, and unrelenting commitment to creative freedom continue to resonate with those who knew him and with new generations encountering his work.
Millie Thompson
Just As It Is
The Upstairs and Mosaic Galleries
5th July – 17th August 2025
Millie Thompson is a visual artist based in Halifax, and a 2023 graduate from the University of Leeds with a degree in Art and design. Her practice is grounded in acrylic and oil painting, where she employs a hyper-realistic style to depict everyday objects just as they are.
Millie’s work is primarily based on her own photographic source material, allowing her to retain a strong personal connection to each subject. She is drawn to the overlooked or mundane elements of daily life – household items, cluttered corners and ordinary compositions – transforming them into compelling and highly detailed scenes that feel both intimate and universal. Whether working to a set brief or developing independent projects, her compositions often reflect themes of familiarity, stillness, and memory.
Millie’s paintings invite viewers to pause and reconsider the quiet beauty of their surroundings, encouraging a deeper appreciation for the everyday.
Pete Defty
The Outlaw Project
The Focus Wall
5th July – 3rd August 2025
Originally from the North East of England, Peter worked freelance before joining a commercial advertising studio in Newcastle and is now based in West Yorkshire, where he shoots portraits, architecture, interiors, and still life as well as many personal projects.
The Outlaw Project was inspired by the portraits of native American tribes made by Edward C. Curtis in the early 1900s. Shooting began for the project using a giant Sidney R. Littlejohn process camera made in London circa 1927 and acquired from a newspaper office.
The aim of the project mirrors the work of Curtis in some ways, recording faces from modern tribes and documenting stories to give future generations a good understanding of their own history.
Since 2015, the camera has been based in Peter’s studio at Dean Clough, during which time approximately 350 faces have been shot, with this being the second mini exhibition of the work. The final exhibition should take place toward the end of 2026.
For more information or to book a portrait sitting, please get in touch.
Two Rivers
IOU’s Sculptural Sound Installation
IOU Walkway Gallery, Dean Clough, Halifax, HX3 5DJ
Monday-Friday: 08:00-20:00
Saturday-Sunday: 09:00-17:00
Created in collaboration with artist Richard Wincer, writer Louise Oliver, composer Dan Morrison and sculptor Andy Plant.
The installation fuses woodcuts, sculpture, technology, spoken word, and sound art to explore themes of evolution, heritage, legacy – the circle of life, the passage of time, the cycles of nature.
Walk through the installation and take in the sounds that echo around this atmospheric art space.
esK : ‘Cuiridh mi clach air do chárn -I’ll Put A Stone On Your Cairn’
IOU Walkway Gallery, Dean Clough
Opens 13th March 2025
Monday-Friday: 08:00-20:00
Saturday-Sunday: 09:00-17:00
IOU Artist in Residence esK (Stewart Knights) new exhibition reflects on his experience living at the IOU Hostel Hebden Bridge and his time in Calderdale.
Over his time in South Pennines, Stewart has developed a love for the cairns (purposefully stacked stones) of the hills and moors.
“Memorials and compasses pointing towards the mishmash of ideas and histories that I have come to know and love whilst here in Calderdale”.
This has led him to choose, for his final project as Artist in Residence, to create interactive cairn-like structures out of found and gifted objects. The exhibition explores how cairns could form in urban contexts using everyday materials. The original use of cairns and standing stones for rituals, navigation and memorial purposes are preserved in these interactive sculptures while also encouraging storytelling and play.
The Iron Man by Chris Mould
Please note: The Iron Man is currently on temporary display at The Bankfield Museum.
The Iron Man is currently on show in the entrance to The Dean Clough Galleries. Chris said “My interest in Ted Hughes’ The Iron Man began when I first found the book in the school library at a young age. It had been published in the year before I was born (1968) and continues to be a strong selling title in the children’s market today.
After being asked to produce my own illustrated version of the story I became fascinated with the idea of taking the artwork to the next stage and building the character three dimensionally.”
Copies of The Iron Man, Illustrated by Chris Mould are available in the Design Shop at Dean Clough.
The Lego Model
Visit the Lego model of the 22 acre Dean Clough site situated in the Lego Brick Gallery in D Mill next to the Upstairs and Mosaic Galleries. This model, constructed out of approximately one million Lego bricks has been created by Lego artists Michael Le Count and Tony Priestman.
Also displayed in the gallery are artefacts and photographs of the Crossley Carpet era and of the renovation of Dean Clough in the 1980s.
The Piano Club
The Piano Club started over 30 years ago, a forerunner of the many piano meet-up groups found throughout the UK. Based at the Crossley Gallery in Dean Clough, The Piano Club offers a forum for pianists to play, perform and develop within a sympathetic and friendly environment and the opportunity to discuss aspects of piano playing and repertoire with fellow musicians. Our aspiration could be summed up as mutual self-improvement through the knowledge and experience to be found within the group.
The group meets on the first Sunday of each month from 10am to 1pm. Membership is free and meetings are open to observers.
The Crossley Art Gallery at Dean Clough has a beautiful Fazioli grand piano and seats 150. It is situated close to Halifax Bus Station, and the Dean Clough car parks are free on Sundays.
The Piano Club is run by David Nelson, formerly the Artistic Director of the Hebden Bridge Piano Festival. Please contact David by phone or email for further information. Tel. 07704 873 894
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pianoclubhalifax
Purchasing Artwork
Purchase exhibited items by debit or credit card from the Design Shop next to the Dean Clough Main Reception. When the exhibition finishes purchased items may be collected by arrangement.
Prints of some artists’ work are also for sale in The Design Shop.