Hello, Cami O’Hagan back again! Covering all things Albert Adams in celebration of the University’s Special Collection!

To familiarise you with his life and work, Adams born in Johannesburg 1929 of African-Indian heritage, he was excluded from having a formal arts education in South Africa due to the apartheid legislation; segregating the country’s populace into ‘white’ and ‘coloured’ peoples.

This racial segregation policy did not stop Adams from gaining access to a university scholarship in 1953, where he relocated to London to study at the Slade School of Art until 1956. After he graduated, he was awarded another scholarship at the Munich Academy of Arts (1956-57), then completed further education at the School of Vision, Salzburg (1957).  Producing his artworks through drawing, etching, printmaking and painting, building up an impressive technical skillset Adams spent many years teaching art in secondary schools in London’s East End.

It is clear to me that this impressive academic career shaped the expressionist style and macabre-like atmosphere that can be seen and felt from Adams’ work for example, Head – Final State and Figure Study (images 2 and 3). The emphasis on stark distinctions between shape, form and the monochromatic palette to symbolise the toughest of realities; the uncertainty, alienation and urgency to survive as a Black gay man who was ostracized from his own country, and also trying to navigate the sophisticated arts and culture scene in London.

The distorted head with huge, clouded but peering eyes (image 2) in my opinion, represents Adams’ attention on the subjugation of citizens under the state violence caused by the apartheid. The interplay of shadows within the abstracted figure with an obliterated face and a clearly visible era (image 3), this blurring technique making this subject unknown – signifying Adams grappling with his identity and sexuality. The graphite on paper, creating the impenetrable blackness around the struggling figure opens up a window to the intersectionality of themed possibilities that this work could be centred around.  

Want to know more about our Artists in Residence at Energy House 2.0? In this special edition of Talking Salford Podcast, both Mishka Henner and Emily Speed talk about their practices, projects, careers, and the work they are doing in collaboration with Energy House 2.0!

Available on your preferred Podcasting platform, or on YouTube at the link below!

Talking Salford S2E11 – Energy House 2.0’s Artist in Residence Special – Mishka Henner & Emily Speed

The Energy House 2.0 Artist Residencies are hosted 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: energyhouse2.salford.ac.uk/friends-of-energy-house-2-0/ 

Hi! Curatorial Intern Cami O’Hagan here taking over the Art Collection’s feed to bring you artwork(s) of the month for November!

I have been prompted to reflect on the past couple of months, working closely with Steph and Sam; having the incredible opportunity to be part of the collection audit. In performing condition checks on each artwork, this process has allowed me to explore the influential and multifaceted narratives within collection.

Image courtesy of Cami O’Hagan

I want to spotlight artworks from the University’s Special collection; The Albert Adam’s Collection. Over these next few posts, I will be sharing my concepts on the work of South African Expressionist artist Albert Adams (1929 – 2006), not only to celebrate Black Culture and queer identity but also to generate opportunity for the wider community to learn about the struggles and resilience of this magnificent artist.

Did you know there is a room dedicated to the artist in The Old Fire Station building, located across from the Peel Building – the Albert Adams room has a large selection of the artist’s work on display!

Stay tuned for more in depth details on how the University of Salford holds the largest archive of Albert Adams’ artwork and personal ephemera.

“We’re delighted to be working with RHS Bridgewater, which is such a beautiful asset right on our doorstep. I’ve been aware of Yan’s amazing work and her focus on the natural world for some time, and have been waiting for the right opportunity to work with her – we’re very excited.”

~Lindsay Taylor, Curator of the University’s Art Collection

Discover more about the Artist in Residence programme from award-winning artist and photographer Dr Yan Wang Preston and Lindsay Taylor, Curator of the University of Salford Art Collection.

About the Programme

The focus of the Artist in Residence programme at RHS Bridgewater will develop organically, initially exploring the former historic site of Worsley New Hall. This area of the garden, which at present is largely inaccessible to visitors, is key to the story of the garden. A cosmopolitan wilderness shaped by its geology, industrial past and horticultural redevelopment – themes that connect RHS Bridgewater to a global history and diverse cultures. The residency offers a window into this wilderness and a chance to explore the horticultural and heritage stories it holds.

Working in partnership with the University of Salford Art Collection, the first stage of the residency is a research and development period from September 2024 to January 2025. From March 2025 there will be a full development period, including a series of public workshops and a pop up display at RHS Bridgewater. In spring and summer 2026, the new work created by Artist in Residence Dr Yan Wang Preston will be presented outdoors in the garden, before an exhibition in autumn at Salford Museum and Art Gallery concludes the residency.

The Artist in Residence project with RHS Bridgewater helps the University deliver on some of its core ambitions, which are to enable healthier living, to nurture creativity and innovation, and to improve sustainability. It will also ensure that the Art Collection team continues to serve the University’s students, staff and wider communities – now and in the future.

Meet the Artist

Dr Yan Wang Preston is a multi-award-winning visual artist and photographer who is passionate about the natural world and our positions within it.

She has completed many challenging projects, including photographing the entire 6,211km Yangtze River in China at 100m intervals for Mother River (2010–2014), and walking to and photographing the same heart-shaped rhododendron bush on the South Pennine Moors every other day over an entire year for With Love. From an Invader. (2020–2021).

“I’m delighted to have this opportunity to work with RHS Bridgewater. Plants and flowers enrich our lives with so much beauty and vitality. Like people, they come from long journeys that are full of moving stories.”

~Dr Yan Wang Preston, Artist in Residence

Yan’s work has won many prestigious awards, including the Royal Photographic Society’s inaugural Photographer of Environmental Responsibility in 2023 and first prize in the Professional Landscape competition at the Sony World Photography Awards in 2019.

Her work is shown in numerous exhibitions, such as the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery in 2024, With Love. From an Invader. at the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh in 2022 and Mother River in the 2015 UK-China Year of Cultural Exchange in China.

Yan has published two books: Mother River, and Forest, both with Hatje Cantz in 2018. Her work is collected by leading public institutions, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Wuhan Art Museum in China.

Based in West Yorkshire, Yan is a passionate gardener. Her favourite plants are peonies, rhododendrons and water lilies. Besides her artistic career, she also lectures in photography at the University of Huddersfield.

“For the research stage of this residency, I would like to prepare the ground first – to gain an understanding of the journey of RHS Bridgewater, and to try to grasp why the plants mean so much to us from personal, collective and artistic angles.”

~Dr Yan Wang Preston

Woods works across collage, zine- making, sculpture, textile and quilting. They were part of the first cohort of Graduate Scholars in 2014. They exhibited with the Collection at The Manchester Contemporary in 2018, at ‘More T’North‘ at the Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, in 2020, and at A Modest Show, Manchester in 2022.

‘Condescending Order’ is a series of zines produced on a monthly basis in 2015, reflecting current political themes. Usually produced in an A5 booklet format, each zine has a variety of formats including poetry, collage and illustration.

Woods’ work critiques capitalism, inequality and societal structures with the intent to inform and empower. She explores these concepts through a variety of mediums with a focus on experimentation and humour. Woods intends to make work which confronts institutions of power and politics, while remaining inclusive and accessible. A decade on, the zines’ themes of ‘broken britain’, political debate, electoral tensions and mistrust of government still hold particular resonance.

This year, I was selected for a Travel Bursary from the Contemporary Art Society, allowing me to head down to London with them to explore Frieze, and to attend a panel discussion with Valeria Napoleone.

Alongside this I also saw 2 other exhibitions whilst in London; Chun Kwang Young’s Inherent Memory, and Strange Wonders: Jizi and pioneers of contemporary ink from China.

Chun Kwang Young : Inherent Memory

Tristan Hoare Gallery

I had previously seen some of Chun Kwang Young’s work at the 2021 Venice Biennale – the intricacy of the small triangular forms wrapped in antique mulberry paper, tinted with various teas or pigments; it is a feast for the eyes. The volume of jagged forms, contrasted with each shadow and reflection of light from a multitude of different angles encapsulates the viewer to pause and get lost in each of the works.

Chun’s signature technique is reminiscent of childhood memories, medical herbs wrapped in Mulberry paper and hung from the ceilings of the local doctor’s office. This link to his Korean heritage and merging these techniques into his art is astounding. Chun takes countless Korean books and wraps the pages around polystyrene shapes, giving each one its own individuality. Although not able to read Korean, I find the writing upon each shape inspiring, as it further emphasizes the nature of our species – history being lost to time, and yet reused or rebirthed into new and exciting ventures. Chun’s work will always be a treat to witness firsthand.

Strange Wonders: Jizi and pioneers of contemporary ink from China

Brunei Gallery

After this I then went to the Brunei Gallery at the SOAS University of London, where the Strange Wonders: Jizi and pioneers of contemporary ink from China was on display. This exhibition was intriguing, for the way it was hung and put together, but also the content. Large ink works on rice paper clad the walls throughout the lower level of the Brunei Gallery, a mix of celestial and the everyday amalgamated into various pieces; pockets of space and entrances to other worlds.

Otherworldly forms, statues emerging from the dark, planets and celestial bodies above mountains, stone paths atop geometrical obelisks, stamped writing freefalling in nothingness, and road signs reiterating that there are no U-turns allowed here.

Jizi’s work is born from experience, and his research into Buddhist and Daoist classics. At first glance the works seem chaotic, nonsensical, and yet when looking closer the works feel at peace – floating through an ethereal plane of existence. Everything fits together, flowing into each other, and overall just provides a real sense of calm. No U-turns, once you have seen this work, it will stay with you in a way.

“The rules say ‘use form to draw spirit’, but I in fact ‘use spirit to draw form’.”

FRIEZE LONDON

Paula from CAS gave the group a tour of select stalls within Frieze. Starting with a solo presentation of Lotus L. Kang’s work from Franz Kaka. This interested me in a few ways; colour, form, content, and process. The colours were evocative, a very specific orange-brown found in photographical development processes stands out from the white cube environment as large sheets of film tower above you. Franz Kaka has stated that these film sheets are continually-sensitive leading me to believe that they are similar to some of Lizzie King’s work, whereby I mean they are continually being exposed to light and are slowly continuing to develop chemically. The vague shapes of the rafters and scaffolding holding the Frieze tent above is evident on a few of these sheets, now exposed as a warm thermal glow. As someone who is used to working with 35, 120, and 127 mm film rolls, the work being presented leads me to be taken-aback from the sheer scale of the material used.

We next viewed the Dust that never settles (2024)  by Nour Jaouda, which is one of 2 works that CAS has acquired by women artists through the CAS Collections Fund for The Hepworth Wakefield.

This work is based in fabric dye and pigment on canvas, and is another piece that I couldn’t help but become lost in the details of. This large-scale textile stands at the threshold of painting and sculpture, Jaouda’s work is inspired by her immediate surroundings; these being cosmopolitan cities, and prayer mats that are seen in Egypt. Vibrant blues and ochre yellows, the work is a delight to look at, and could easily be interpreted in many ways by different viewers. For me it was almost as if natural forms and plants were emerging from manmade panels, the brightest of the blues and yellows breaking through the segmented subdued colours.

Sonic Gym – Milky Coiffured Cosmic Compression (2019), by Haegue Yang. A sculptural work that wasn’t meant to be still – the work was spun for us, the individual bells used in its construction rang, and the plastic twine splayed outwards from the inertia. This work is part of a series of Sonic Sculptures that started in 2013, many of which also use bells, as these have been a staple element that many cultures adopt; from tribal societies to the modern era, this adding a layer of mythic and ritualistic memory to Yang’s work. Unique visual patterns and sounds are experiences after a state of silence and immobility; something I wish to see again in a quieter environment to fully appreciate its intricacies.

Valeria Napoleone xx Contemporary Art Society

CAS then took us to Valeria Napoleone’s residence/ gallery – the walls of this London Terrace were filled with artwork by various female artists over the years; as Napoleone has been collecting work since the 1990s, there is no lack of it. Ranging from paintings to sculpture, small and large, it was a collection to behold.

The following talk between the CAS members and Napoleone was interesting to me as it was an in-depth introduction to select works that VN xx CAS has acquired since its founding in 2016, and then gone onto be presented in various CAS affiliated Museums such as: Leeds Art Gallery, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery, Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust, The Hunterian, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, York Art Gallery, and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

I was intrigued by the 1973 film Antepartum by Mary Kelly – a film acquired for Brighton & Hove Museums through VN xx CAS. Kelly’s work is renowned for introducing feminist concerns into the male dominated space. This film being part of a series of works that focus on the experience of pregnancy and motherhood. Black and white close-up shots, the film portrays a pregnant stomach at full term; the film showing the subtle rising and falling of the abdomen as breath is drawn and then exhaled. Part of the reason for my intrigue is that of physicality and the material that is used to capture this work – analogue film (converted to DVD for digital conservation). The look and feel of film is one that captures natural environments and life so well compared to the digital medium of today (in my opinion); it has a unique quality that captures the soft details and subtle movements to great effect.

The kindness of Napoleone, everyone at the Contemporary Art Society, and the other organisational representatives knew no bounds. Even a full month later I am still digesting the amazing work I saw, and cannot thank the Contemporary Art Society enough for this opportunity.

Also a quick shout out to Kate from Tate, Megan from North Yorkshire Council, and Kirsty from Dundee as we spent most of the day discussing art and our different roles respectively.

Turner is a photographic artist exploring narratives of symbiosis between the landscape and the individual. ‘A Seat in the Shade’ is part of a larger body of work produced during the Venice Biennale 2019, where the artist undertook a stewarding fellowship co-ordinated by the British Council.

The series, which includes a self- published photobook, is a meditation of the claustrophobia of Venice; this work encapsulating a search for a moment of solitude in the city. The print was handmade by the artist in the colour darkroom in an edition of 2.

Turners’ wider practice investigates interactions with landscape as a way to navigate social and cultural themes and issues, through both personal and existential experiences. He has exhibited at the Open Eye Gallery Hub in Leigh Spinners Mill, London Metropolitan School of Art, The Brunswick Leeds, and Paradise Works in Salford. His writing has been published online and in print, including with Redeye: The photography Network. He is currently Photographic Technical Demonstrator at the University of Salford.

Join the curators from the University of Salford Art Collection for an informal lunchtime tour of current exhibition: Catalyst.

The exhibition features work from 16 University alumni, across painting, printmaking, photography, video, sculpture and more.

Covering a range of topics, their works exemplify the exciting and urgent emerging practices happening in the North West right now. From personal identity, LGBTQ+ visibility, wellbeing and politics; thoughts on place, landscape and nature; to passionate enquiries into form, shape, colour and the nature of image-making, the artworks reflect some of the many issues of the past decade.

Find out more about the works on display; the University’s art collection; and our graduate artist support scheme, now in its tenth year.

Open to public, students and staff. Tour runs 1pm for approximately 20mins, with time for questions.

Rawlinson is an abstract painter primarily working in oils. His work explores the natural world, with a particular focus on lichen – a symbiotic natural organism. He takes interest in their ‘often-unnoticed and underappreciated significance within our ecology, highlighting the extent of our vital relationship with everything that makes up life on earth’.

Using abstraction, gestural mark-making and a range of painterly techniques to ‘give life to’ his paintings, he builds up rich and textural images on large scale canvases. The works seek to manipulate the act and experience of looking; and provide spaces of contemplation and reflection. They form a basis for wider philosophical enquiries, drawing on existentialism and phenomenology, around ‘what it means to be alive’, and what our individual and collective place in the world might be.

Rawlinson has exhibited across the UK, including Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester, Brick Lane Gallery, London and The Alchemy Experiment Glasgow. Recently he was awarded a travel scholarship by The Aidan Threlfall Trust to the Scottish Highlands.

Lizzie King uses analogue and digital printmaking and photography to explore the ‘narratives of our human-centred universe’. This work was one of two pieces commissioned for Rediscovering Salford in 2020, a city-wide project inviting artists to respond to green spaces in the city.

King focussed on Peel Park and the importance of free and open ‘parks for the people’. Demand for public green spaces traces its roots to the Victorian era, and the park is widely recognised as one of the first ever public parks – and the first to be paid for by public subscription. This importance was heightened during the Covid-19 pandemic: while the artist was shielding it was one of the few safe places to visit.

The park bench became an important symbol of rest, relaxation and reflection: ‘The bench asks nothing of the sitter but ‘to be’’. In this work King reverses the roles – the bench itself becomes the ‘sitter’ of a ‘portrait’. Using an elaborate process of photography, engraving, enlarging and digitally combining 42 original images into one composition, the making of the work itself also became a meditative and reflective process.