Posts by sfletcher

June 2025

A digital showcase of a selection of works made by University of Salford BA Photography students, in response to the works and themes of gallery exhibition Between the Earth and the Sky. With a curatorial statement by Collection Intern Eran Voisey.

Works are also on display in the New Adelphi Building – Atrium large screen from Monday 23rd June to Friday 25th July; plus a selection of printed works by Will Rowe selected for exhibition in the Clifford Whitworth Library, ground floor display case.

---

Reflections: Between the Earth and the Sky highlights lens-based artworks created in response to the exhibition Between the Earth and the Sky. In kinship with their initial inspiration, these artworks further explore the natural world and what it means to us as individuals. From being captivated by minute details, to exploring vast landscapes, or getting lost in contemplation, the featured artists invite you to reflect on how you interact with nature and how it influences you.

Through rippled and sunkissed waters, Natasha Judge and Jamey Cassidy remind us of the beauty and romance of the natural world. Meanwhile, photographic prints by Archie Gifford, and Katie Hunter call on us to be aware of humanity’s impact on nature. Similarly, Luke Speakman’s images (and photobook made from non-recyclable waste) emphasizes the importance of preservation and sustainability.

By getting up close and personal, Amelia Sampson and Levi Brown find beauty in the intricacies of leaves and ice – noticing what is often missed in a modern, fast-paced lifestyle. Additionally, Pavani Chandana makes fleeting moments tangible through the use of animated cyanotypes.

With the use of distorted reflections and brushed cyanotypes to evoke powerful emotions, Kiera Jones and Will Rowe explore the conceptual themes of fantasy and memory, and withdrawal and seclusion. Inspired by ancestral practices, Jarvis Best and Eran Voisey, using moving image and photographic collage, adventure through themes of oneness and spirituality; portraying how we may more deeply experience and connect with the landscape.

IMAGES: Click here to launch the Image Gallery as a PDF version.

OPEN CALL FOR SOCIALLY-ENGAGED PHOTOGRAPHER.
Fixed fee: £10,000
Deadline: 10am Monday 7th July 2025

University of Salford Art Collection with RHS Garden Bridgewater, Open Eye Gallery, Salford Youth Service, and Salford Museum & Art Gallery

The University of Salford is working in partnership with RHS Garden Bridgewater (RHSGB), Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool and Salford Youth Service to widen access to and engagement with nature through the medium of photography. We have secured Arts Council England (ACE) project grant funding to support a socially engaged photographer to work with Salford Youth Service and up to 4 groups of young people between September 2025 and October 2026.

Background:

University of Salford and Open Eye Gallery have a strong track record of collaborative working including includes developing a joint Masters programme in Socially Engaged Photography. We delivered a socially engaged artist in residence with the Collection in 2021/22 (Gwen Riley Jones; who developed work with Salford Youth Council) and worked again with Salford Youth Service on the Is Anybody Listening project in 2023. 

The University of Salford Art Collection has also established a partnership with RHS Gardens Bridgewater – which is hosting its first joint artist in residence programme with the photographer Yan Wang Preston.  With funding from Arts Council England we are working with 2 socially engaged photographers Anoosh Ariamehr and Fiona Robinson to develop projects with the health and wellbeing and community grow gardens at RHS Garden Bridgewater.

The opportunity:

We are now looking for a socially engaged photographer (or socially engaged artist focussing on photography) to work with young people from Salford Youth Service and to engage with them with nature through the RHSGB and the broader residency programme.

The selected candidate will work with SYS who have identified the following 4 groups:

• NEET (Not in education, employment or training – across Salford)
• Salford Youth Council (across Salford)
• Little Hulton and Walkden Youth Group
• Eccles and Winton Youth Group

SYS will support the selected photographer with a dedicated youth work worker and assistant supporting all activity. 10 digital cameras will be available for use.

Objectives:

• Introducing or improving photography-based skills for local young people
• Supporting young people to visit and connect with new places (RHS, Salford Museum, campus)
• Encouraging young people to think about issues around nature, environment, sustainability and wellbeing
• Creating space and time for young people to express what’s important to them
• Sharing young people’s voices with a public audience (format TBC – may be e.g. digital blogs, publication, visual outcome, presence in planned events/exhibitions programmes).

What we are looking for / what to expect:

A socially engaged photographer with demonstrable interest in nature and the environment and experience of working with young people.  Our young people are mainly from low socio economic backgrounds and have diverse needs including low confidence and neurodiversity.

 We anticipate:

• Approximately 40 days delivery, based on site (across Salford) with SYS and 4 groups of young people. Based on 10 sessions per group – including a minimum of 2 visits to RHSGB, and 1 visit to Salford Museum and Art Gallery (Oct 26)
• 2 groups taking place from mid Sept 25, and 2 groups from April 26
• Approximately 10 days planning and preparation, and contributing to  evaluation and communications and events (symposium Oct 26)

There is also potential to:

• present work or documentation publicly at RHSGB (summer 26), Salford Museum and Art Gallery (Oct 26), UOSAC or OEG, or online at the end of the project.
• engage with students of MA Socially Engaged Practice at UoS
• engage with the UOSAC

The successful candidate will be required to pass a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check (enhanced with children’s barred list) in order to be able to take up the role, or be registered with the DBS Update Service in order for an employer check to be carried out.

You will also be committed to working in or developing environmentally sustainable practices.  

We recognise that the project will develop and change over the year and our staff teams will support you in embracing opportunities as the project evolves.

Fees and expenses:

Fee: Fixed artist fee of £10,000 to include all expenses and any VAT if payable.  
Payable in quarterly instalments.

This is based on a programme of activity from Sept 25 – Oct 26 –  approx. 40 days across the 4 groups, plus 10 days for planning, preparation,  and contribution to communications, evaluation and events (symposium).  We anticipate that the work will happen mainly in autumn and spring when the weather is better for outdoor activity and when the gardens will be at their most interesting.

Costs: there is an additional budget available of up to £3400 to cover all additional costs such as transport, refreshments and materials for working with SYS.

There is potentially up to a further £2000 available for legacy.  This could cover time/material costs such as: printing/framing and presentation at a public venue (eg at Youth Centre or Salford Museum and Art Gallery), making books or objects to take home at end of project, digital skills to present work online.

You will also receive organisational support from the University of Salford Art Collection team and partners as well as marketing reach for the project.

Reporting:

Line Manager and first point of contact: Stephanie Fletcher, Curator, UOS
Lead contact at SYS: Rob Fulton
Lead contact at OEG: Sarah Fisher
Lead contact at RHSGB: Daniel Atherton

---

APPLICATION PROCESS:

To apply:

1. Please send us your CV along with a letter explaining your interest in this position and how you might approach the role (1-2 pages maximum).
2. Please include a selection of images of your work or include links to work online.
3. Please send your application in standard file formats (e.g Word, PDF and JPEG). Please do not send very large files or Wetransfer/Dropbox/etc links as these may not reach our inbox. 

Send your application to artcollection@salford.ac.uk
With the subject line “SEP SYS Residency 2025”
Application Deadline: 10am Monday 7^th July
Interviews: Tuesday 22^nd July

Accessibility: 

If you have access needs and wish to discuss these in relation to the application and interview stage, or the opportunity more broadly, please contact: artcollection@salford.ac.uk

We are committed to equal opportunities and will work with the successful selected applicants to support access requirements through reasonable adjustments during the programme. Where disclosures are made and access needs are identified, this will be discussed in more detail with selected candidates after interview stage.

We actively encourage people from diverse backgrounds to apply. We fully recognise the value of a team that is made up of diverse skills, experiences and abilities.

FURTHER INFORMATION: (click to drop-down)

About University of Salford Art Collection

The University of Salford Art Collection is a modest but ambitious collection of modern and contemporary art, founded in 1968 and actively collecting new work through commissions & co-commissions. The collection team work with artists at a range of career levels and collect diverse work across four three thematic strands: About the Digital, From the North, Chinese Contemporary Art. We also programme widely across issues of nature, sustainability, and environment. The Collection supports students, graduates, emerging and established artists through artist development programmes, residencies and collaborations; and reaches audiences through events, exhibitions and more. Read more across the website: artcollection.salford.ac.uk

About Salford Youth Service

The youth service is an informal education service, working with young people aged 11 to 25 years, to ensure every young person in Salford reaches their full potential.

The youth workers support young people’s personal and social development as they move on from childhood to become responsible young adults.

The aims of the youth service are:

• To ensure young people to have a say in decisions affecting them and a voice in their community
• To improve their health and wellbeing
• To support their people’s education, learning and routes to employment and to keep them safe and reduce risk taking behaviour

Each young person is an individual, with different needs and aspirations, so we provide informal activities and youth work programmes, in youth centres, detached work, specialist projects, one to one work and groups, in schools or with other partners.

Our youth workers work alongside young people, building positive relationships based on trust and respect. This enables them to deliver programmes of work that are flexible, and responsive to the needs of young people.

The youth service is based on a commitment to equality and young people’s active participation and empowerment.

About RHS

Since our formation in 1804, the RHS has grown into the UK’s leading gardening charity, touching the lives of millions of people. Perhaps the secret to our longevity is that we’ve never stood still. In the last decade alone we’ve taken on the largest hands-on project the RHS has ever tackled by opening the new RHS Garden Bridgewater in Salford, Greater Manchester, and invested in the science that underpins all our work by building RHS Hilltop – The Home of Gardening Science.

We have committed to being net positive for nature and people by 2030. We are also committed to being truly inclusive and to reflect all the communities of the UK.

Across our five RHS gardens we welcome more than three million visitors each year to enjoy over 34,000 different cultivated plants. Events such as the world famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show, other national shows, our schools and community work, and partnerships such as Britain in Bloom, all spread the shared joy of gardening to wide-reaching audiences.

Throughout it all we’ve held true to our charitable core – to encourage and improve the science, art, and practice of horticulture – to share the love of gardening and the positive benefits it brings.

For more information visit www.rhs.org.uk

About Open Eye Gallery

Open Eye Gallery is developing a national lead on Socially Engaged Photography Practice, (SEPP) including coordinating a national network of SEPP practitioners and photography organisations, supporting international practice development, as well as managing a significant programme of SEPP residencies with a wide range of partners, which currently includes 16 residencies, based in a range of contexts from neighbourhood initiatives, to NHS programmes and Novus, a national education provider in prisons, to one with Energy House, based in the University of Salford. More broadly we develop exhibitions, learning programmes, publications and events in our gallery, and in partner venues locally and internationally, we have a growing digital programme as well as running LOOK Photo Biennial.

---

Image credits:
1) Former artist in residence Gwen Riley Jones with youth group Action for Conservation
2) RHS Garden Bridgewater © RHS / Lee Charlton
3) Salford Youth Service workshop, photo courtesy Gwen Riley Jones

A community focused photography project led by the University of Salford in partnership with RHS Garden Bridgewater Salford and Open Eye Gallery Liverpool has been awarded project funding from Arts Council England.

PHOTO: Therapeutic Gardener Ozichi Brewster (right) in the Wellbeing Garden 

The award will cover the costs for three photographers to work at RHS Bridgewater with local communities to develop creative activity relating to nature, wellbeing and climate change.

Supported by the University of Salford Art Collection team and the project partners they will work alongside internationally renowned photographic artist Yan Wang Preston, who was announced in November as RHS Garden Bridgewater’s first ever artist in residence thanks to a collaboration between the University and the RHS garden.

Two photographers benefiting from the Arts Council England fund are Anoosh Ariamehr, an Afghanistani refugee who recently received settled status and will use his expertise as a journalist to work with communities in the RHS Bridgewater’s Community Grow Garden, and health specialist Fiona Robinson who completed an MA in socially engaged photography at the University of Salford in 2022 and will focus her time with communities in the Wellbeing Garden. They will both work with a third photographer (yet to be appointed) who will work with young people from the city through Salford Youth Service.

They will complement the work of Yan Preston who is a multi-award-winning visual artist and photographer who is passionate about the natural world and humanity’s position within it. She was the recipient of the Royal Photographic Society’s inaugural Photographer of Environmental Responsibility award in 2023 and has exhibited around the world including in her native China.

Lindsay Taylor, Curator of the University of Salford Art Collection explains: “The news that we were successful applying for Arts Council funding is wonderful; it will enable us to deepen the work that Yan has begun at RHS Garden Bridgewater by employing socially engaged photography to develop ideas with and for our local communities. As a University we are committed to enriching lives and enabling healthier living, and I can’t imagine a better way of putting this into action by welcoming  people from Salford and across our region to explore the wonderful gardens at Bridgewater and exploring their activities through photography.”

Dan Atherton at RHS Garden Bridgewater added: “We already have strong community engagement activities at the garden, welcoming groups in to cultivate and grow flowers, fruit and vegetables and we can’t wait to see how Anoosh and Fiona use their skills with community groups to document and explore this activity. It’s great that they will be able to link in with a photographer of Yan’s standing, to share creative ideas and new ways of thinking about how to use photography in our spaces.”

Sarah Fisher from Open Eye said: “1.8 billion photographs are uploaded to social media every day and we now share our lives using photography. But we are often sharing very similar images so we are excited that this collaboration brings the expertise of photographers together with people as part of their gardening experience.”

Ten digital SLR cameras will be purchased as part of the project to use across the community groups to give everyone the chance to co-design and develop their own content.

Work in progress will be displayed at Open Eye Gallery early next year, followed by an outdoor presentation at RHS Garden Bridgewater in summer 2026. The whole programme will be celebrated with an exhibition at Salford Museum and Art Gallery and the University in autumn 2026.

The University of Salford Art Collection (UOSAC) was founded in 1968. The collection contains over 900 items including work by L S Lowry and Bridget Riley, and is the catalyst for a range of scholarships, collaborative commissions and cultural partnerships with organisations across the North West.

Photo credit: Josh Kemp Smith – RHS Garden Bridgewater

Art & Science In-Conversation: Emily Speed, Mishka Henner and Professor Richard Fitton
15 May 2025, 6 – 8pm, Castlefield Gallery

£3, limited free tickets for Castlefield Gallery Associates; University of Salford students/staff, and anyone on a low income.

---

Join us for this in-conversation event that brings together exhibiting artists Emily Speed and Mishka Henner with Professor Richard Fitton, technical lead for the University of Salford Energy House 2.0 Labs. 

The event is an opportunity to hear about the artist’s residencies at the world leading research facilities that inspired the works in the exhibition. Click here to learn more about the exhibition. 

Lindsay Taylor (Director, University of Salford Art Collection) will invite the speakers to share their experiences of working across disciplines. In particular they will consider how art and science can help us explore our relationship with climate change and the possibilities and politics of building the sustainable homes of the future.

Lindsay will also share plans to acquire works from the exhibition into the University Art Collection for the benefit of future generations. The event will conclude with a Q&A. 

Limited tickets remaining: book now!

Presented by Castlefield Gallery in partnership with University of Salford Art Collection and Energy House Labs.

The Energy House 2.0 Artist Residencies have been hosted by the University of Salford Art Collection in partnership with Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool and Castlefield Gallery, Manchester. Both residencies have been made possible through funding from the Friends of Energy House 2.0 Community.

Image: Energy ‘House Party’ at Energy House 2.0, photographed by Jules Lister.

An immersive sound installation that captures the breadth and feel of the River Irwell will make its debut at the University next month for the Sounds From The Other City festival.

Hayley Suviste’s stunning new artwork, From The River’s Mouth, will be showcased within the University’s Acoustic Laboratories on Sunday 4 May as part of the festival’s 20th anniversary celebrations.

Developed over the past few months, the sound artist’s exhibition will present a series of installations that, explored across unique acoustic rooms, will each present a different audio aspect of the River Irwell.

Listeners will be taken through the journey of the river, from the hum of Manchester and Salford’s city centres to the vibrant life of Kersal Wetlands where nature thrives along the water’s edge.

From The River’s Mouth contrasts human impact with nature’s resilience.

The project has come together during Hayley’s time as Artist in Residence at the Acoustic Laboratories, in a partnership with the University of Salford Art Collection and From The Other, the organisation behind Sounds From The Other City.

Hayley said: “From The River’s Mouth explores a different aspect of the River Irwell as you walk through and experience the installation. It will take listeners through the shifting landscapes and stories that make up the river’s past, present and imagined future.

“Over the past months, I have walked the river’s banks, gathering field recordings, photographs and footage. I have also delved into historical archives, reflecting on how humans have shaped the river and how it, in turn, shapes us. These materials will come together in the final installations, creating sensory experiences that invite reflection on our connection to the river and our role in its care.

“From The River’s Mouth invites listeners to consider the river not as a mere body of water, but as a living entity, constantly evolving and shaping the world around it.”

Tickets for the 45-minute experience will be available on a first-come, first-served basis to a limited number of festivalgoers on the day of the festival but a further public presentation of the work will take place later on this year with the final overall piece to become part of the University of Salford Art Collection.

Lindsay Taylor, Director at The University of Salford Art Collection, said: “It is a privilege to work with colleagues in Acoustics, as well as From the Other, to develop totally new artwork that responds to our environment as well as our facilities.  

“From The River’s Mouth by Hayley Suviste is our second commission for Sounds From The Other City.  Tickets for last year’s commission, The Conductor by Mishka Henner, sold out within hours – so make sure you are early if you want to reserve a place for this unique and special experience.”

Mark Carlin, Co-Director of From The Other said: “Sounds From The Other City has always been a place for emerging artists to try out new ideas and we love transforming unlikely spaces into music venues, so it is a genuine delight to be hosting From The River’s Mouth in the heart of the University’s acoustics department.

“It also represents a brilliant journey that we have shared with Hayley, who was a volunteer in our festival team in 2016 and is now one of the highlights of our 20th anniversary festival!”

Sounds From The Other City will take place across the University’s Peel Park campus, with music performed at Maxwell Hall, Peel Hall, Salford Museum & Art Gallery, The Old Fire Station Café, on The Green and at the Working Class Movement Library.

Over 100 acts including Gwenno, Loose Articles, Astrid Sonne and The Orielles will be performing across 15 stages around Chapel Street and The Crescent.

Images: header: Hayley Suviste – Kersal Wetlands Underwater Microphones – photo credit Charlotte Simmons. Above: Hayley Suviste at the University Acoustics Laboratories – Reverb room.

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Now open at the New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery:

Between the Earth and the Sky
Tues 28th January – Friday 25th July
Open weekdays, 10am-4pm, excluding bank holidays

Between the earth and the sky: Contemporary printmaking, photography and video work reflecting on nature’s transitional and transformative moments. Artists include Darren Almond, Mishka Henner, Liang Yue, Christiane Baumgartner and more!

Read more here

Artist in residence announcement: Hayley Suviste
University of Salford Art Collection and Acoustics Laboratories,
in partnership with From The Other

January 2025

The University of Salford Art Collection is delighted to announce Hayley Suviste as new artist-in-residence at the University’s Acoustic Laboratories, in partnership with music festival organisation From The Other.

Hayley is a sound artist and composer based in Manchester. She works across field recording, archival sound and oral history, to explore community, culture, and the rural and urban narratives of Greater Manchester and the North. Previous commissions include Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Yorkshire Sound Women Network, and Mediale and Quays Culture; making new work performed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

For this residency she will take inspiration from the local River Irwell – once known as the ‘hardest worked river in the world’. The river draws together narratives of industrial heritage, ecological resilience, and cultural significance, albeit in the face of ongoing challenges around urbanisation and pollution. Through audio, visual and musical experiments, Hayley will invite audiences to reflect on the river’s history and their own relationship to it in a new light.

“We are excited to welcome Hayley onto campus to develop this new work, which will draw together nature and technology to explore both the city’s heritage and future” – Stephanie Fletcher, Assistant Curator, Art Collection

Based at the Acoustic Laboratories from January to May 2025, Hayley will make use of the world-leading research facilities including the reverberation room (where sound waves echo extensively) and anechoic chamber (one of the quietest rooms in the world). As well as supporting undergraduate and postgraduate study and research, the facility and expert team regularly undertake commercial testing for some of the world’s best-known brands and organisations. This project will allow wider public audiences to experience the facility, when the new work premieres at From The Other’s much-loved festival of new music, Sounds from the Other City Festival, on May 4.

The festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary year in 2025, with more information on locations and the lineup to be announced in coming weeks.

“This opportunity to create a new piece for the University of Salford Art Collection and Sounds from the Other City feels like a wonderful full-circle moment. Ten years ago, I moved to Manchester and volunteered for SFTOC to connect with the city’s creative scene. Now, I’m returning as an artist, grateful for the chance to draw inspiration from the River Irwell and the Acoustic Laboratories at the University. I’m excited to explore the sounds, textures, and stories of these spaces and let them shape my creative process.” – Hayley Suviste, artist in residence

Hayley’s residency project follows a sold-out performance by previous artist-in-residence Mishka Henner, in collaboration with Energy House 2.0, at the festival’s 2024 edition. A further public presentation will take place in the Summer, and the new work will enter the University’s Art Collection as a legacy of the project.

“It was fantastic to work with artist Mishka Henner on the performance of The Conductor at the Acoustics Laboratories for SFTOC 2024, opening up our unique facilities to wider audiences in a new way. We look forward to working with Hayley and being part of SFTOC again this year” – Danny Wong-McSweeney, Laboratory Manager

Image: Anechoic chamber, courtesy Acoustics Laboratories

To celebrate World Mental Health Day 2024, we’ve launched a new self-guided mindful gallery tour. Pickup a leaflet in the gallery, or download a copy online here, and enjoy a new way of experiencing the artwork.

This years’ theme is workplace mental health, so why not take a break from your screen, or meet a colleague in the gallery, and hopefully enjoy a few minutes of calm.

As always our gallery (and the activity sheet) are open to staff, students and public.

During the pandemic, the Art Collection was successful in acquiring two new prints from the Derbyshire SLS (School Library Service) deaccessioning scheme, co-ordinated by Buxton Museum & Art Gallery. We received works by artists Brendan Neiland and Michael Stokoe, complimenting prints we already held by them. The works add to our modest but strong collection of regional printmaking. Art Collection Intern Cami O’Hagan finds out more about the artists & their work below.

---

Celebrating British Printmaking: The Art Collection acquires works by Brendan Neiland and Michael Stokoe

Art Collection Intern Cami O’Hagan reflects on the Collection’s recent acquisitions and influential lives and work of these contemporary post-war artists, while also uncovering some interesting visuals.

Cityscape (1981) by Brendan Neiland and Wave Under Nine (1969) by Michael Stokoe were originally part of the Derbyshire School Library Service, which closed in 2018 and had to re-home over 2000 items. Now given a new home in Salford, taking into consideration the earlier selection history of British painting, photography and printmaking these artworks are ideal additions to the Collection’s ever-growing printmaking strand.

Both Neiland and Stokoe have had impressive careers, spanning over five decades through many era’s within British history – these culture changes I believe can be seen through the aesthetic shifts in different artwork series by each artist. Predominantly producing through the creative avenues of painting and printmaking, these two artworks showcase a small portion of Neiland and Stokoe’s remarkable and dedicated craftmanship within the sub-medium of screen printing.

Brendan Neiland

Born in 1941 Lichfield, Staffordshire – in 1962 Neiland studied at Birmingham College of Art until 1966 where he then moved to London to embark on his academic journey at the Royal College of Art, as stated in a Q&A session with Brook Gallery this is where he developed his famous spray gun technique. (Brook Gallery & Neiland, 2015)

Widely known for his paintings and screen prints of the modern metropolitan architecture. In Millbank (1974) – one of Neiland’s earlier screen prints first acquired by the Art Collection, this piece measuring 96 x 77cm highlight’s the artist’s signature aesthetic in capturing reflections and refractions of high-rise buildings, giving a new dimension of reality to his viewers.

Cityscape, much like Millbank is a large screen print showing the complexity of urban spaces through mirrored glass, informed by a grid-like frame – I believe this print highlights the influence of photography and lighting within Neiland’s process. The intricate details in playing with the light and shadow within the mirrored glass of these buildings for example, in the lower right corner there is a Gordon’s gin bottle incorporated into the reflection of the building. In my opinion, this is Neiland’s approach to including an element of popular culture into his artwork, possibly hinting at the nation’s favourite alcoholic beverage in the 1980’s?

Neiland’s approach to documenting the essence of the city landscape has prompted me view these large megastructures through a different lens. By including building structures that many often perceive as harsh and rigid, Neiland’s choice of framing and light colour tones adds a softness to the artworks – creating space for the overlooked aspects of city life.

Michael Stokoe (1933-2021)

Michael Stokoe was born in London, 1933. He studied at St. Martins School of Art from 1953-57 where he was exposed to and influenced by the post-war British Art scene, and the rise of modernism. Stokoe had a profuse career, he worked in the marketing and advertising industry after finishing his education. Alongside working in marketing and advertising, for over thirty years he taught at the Ravensbourne College of Art and Design as a senior lecturer.

Having gained major recognition in the earlier half of his career for his pioneering approach to abstraction within his artworks – heavily focusing on geometric shapes, lines and colour. Stokoe’s technical skills and aesthetics have contributed heavily to the Op Art movement. Stokoe’s paintings and prints have been acquired in world renowned collections such as V + A museum, Government Art Collection, United Kingdom and the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.

Wave Under Nine is a 48 x 43cm screen print comprising eight perfectly round blue circles and one turquoise oval shaped circle embraced by a deep red background. In the lower section of this print, a line which is curved central to the oval shape which adds an element of movement within the piece. The beige tone reminds me of sand within a desert landscape, the turquoise oval might possibly represent the moon appearing against the red sky just after sunset. It is clear that Stokoe’s primary visual concern is form and colour, the preciseness of the circular shapes in my opinion pushes the viewer to engage with the artwork on a deeper level. Wave Under Nine has encouraged me to think more comprehensively, regarding the infinite possibilities an artist has when exploring colour and form through screen printing, in addition to how we as an audience may view the artwork.

On a final note, reviewing these recent acquisitions has made me reflect on my time as a student at the University of Salford; how within the last three years Manchester and Salford skylines have changed quite drastically. Since starting my degree in 2021 and graduating in July of this year – I have witnessed the birth of new skyscraper apartment towers, new concert arenas and the re-development of historic buildings. Although Cityscape and Wave Under Nine are both disparate regarding the intended visual outcomes, from the mirrored urban landscape to the geometric shapes, and abstract form and colour – to me these artworks symbolise how places/locations can feel or be perceived in a different format.

As someone who also produces through the medium of screen printing, I am compelled to consider how we as artists and practitioners can find the hidden meanings and connections to the external elements of our own personal lives and also within the collective experience. Whether its abstract or landscape art, Neiland and Stokoe’s work in my opinion, should prompt us to think about how our surroundings/landscapes are constantly changing in the North West of England.

By Cami O’Hagan

Reference List

Brook Gallery, & Neiland, B. (2015, October 16). Brendan Neiland Q&A Snippet. YouTube. https://youtu.be/d3F5LnbxMi8?si=O8IOK2LQ0Jz-8qUy