New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery opened in 2016, providing a permanent space to showcase the University of Salford Art Collection within the New Adelphi School of Arts and Media. We curate between 3-5 exhibitions per year, often in collaboration with students, graduates, staff, our archives & library collection, and other museums, galleries and independent projects.
As well as a space for teaching, learning, engagement and enjoyment, the Gallery provides a haven away from the busy hustle and bustle of daily campus life. Open Monday – Friday 10am – 4pm during exhibitions. Closed bank holidays. Admission is free.
Accessibility Information:
The New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery is located on the ground floor of the New Adelphi building. The gallery is wheelchair accessible, with seating, toilets, and a shop/cafe for refreshments available within the New Adelphi building.
For full accessibility information including parking, facilities, and details for each entrance, please see the New Adelphi building guide on AccessAble, available here. You can also contact us at: artcollection@salford.ac.uk.
See more of our collections:
In addition to the New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery, you can see our collections at:
The Albert Adams Room – a permanent display of works from our Albert Adams collection. Location: The Old Fire Station, the Crescent, Salford. Visit by appointment only – please contact us.
Partners & loans: Visit our ‘what’s on’ page to find out about new commissions with partners and our UK and international loans. We also programme displays across campus.
Current / Upcoming Exhibitions:
Art Film Season: 2024
March to June
We’re kicking off the year with a selection of artist films from the Collection, all which touch on themes of international connection. Including works by: Parham Ghalamdar, Shezad Dawood, Antony Barkworth Knight, Elliott Flanagan, Nicola Dale & Florence Lam – as well as a short documentary as part of the Ukraine Photography Symposium. 10am to 4pm weekdays except bank holidays, screening days/times vary – please check in advance of visiting.
Click here to find out more
Previous Exhibitions:
Craig Easton: Is Anybody Listening?
Thatcher’s Children, 11 September 2023 – 27 October 2023
Bank Top, 3 November 2023 – 22 December 2023
Craig Easton: Is Anybody Listening? is an exciting, new touring exhibition, presented by the University of Salford Art Collection. Bringing together two award-winning series of work from the University of Salford Alumnus, the exhibition seeks to challenge typical stereotypes of northern communities through authentic representation.
Click here to find out more about Craig Easton: Is Anybody Listening? And Our Time, Our Place.
Visibilities: Shaping a story of now
15th May – 25th August 2023
What does it mean to be visible? Visibilities brings together works from the Collection to explore and examine who and what is represented in our contemporary collecting, and how these visibilities shape what we think of as our stories of now.
After almost two years working closely with the University of Salford Art Collection, Team Assistant Rowan Pritchard curates Visibilities, unpicking what shapes the Collection today, who is visible within it, and what stories the Collection tells.
Artists include: Ruth Barker, Maurice Carlin, Craig Easton, Gwilym Hughes, Katie McGuire, Hetain Patel, Mandy Payne, Jai Redman, Gavin Turk, Wu Yue.
Wenesday 1 Februrary 2023 – Friday 28 April 2023
How can art be a catalyst for social change? During her 12-month residency with the University of Salford Art Collection, socially-engaged photographer Gwen Riley Jones worked closely with Salford Youth Council to explore art, creativity, and positive social action.
Some Days I Feel Triangle includes selected artworks from the University of Salford Art Collection, which inspired their journey and conversations together – using art for ‘thinking, talking, looking, sharing and debating’. Alongside are stories and images from the group’s projects – along with prompts, cards, badges and stickers for visitors to take away.
Are You Living Comfortably? By McCoy Wynne
Monday 10 October 2022 – Friday 23 December 2022
Are You Living Comfortably? is the result of a collaboration between University of Salford Art Collection and Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool with the University’s ground-breaking Energy House research facility and the artists McCoy Wynne.
Are You Living Comfortably? is presented as part of the LOOK Photo Biennial 2022. New works by Megan Powell and Gwen Riley-Jones will also be on display in the Atrium during Oct & Nov. Read more
Theirs, Yours, Ours: queer and non-binary perspectives on identity
Wednesday 30 March 2022 – Friday 30 September 2022
Theirs, Yours, Ours brings together the work of four University of Salford Alumni who explore queer and non-binary perspectives through print, photography, painting, and installation.
Artists include: Mollie Balshaw, Jesse Glazzard, Sadé Mica, and SHARP.
Theirs, Yours, Ours is part of ‘A Modest Show’, the collateral programme to British Art Show 9.
In Focus: Portraiture
Monday 3 February 2020 – end February 2022
Modern and contemporary works from the collection, including Chancellor portraits.
Artists include: Albert Adams, Claudia Alonso, Ruth Barker, Mike Disfarmer, Harry Goodwin, Joe Gregory, Gary Hume, Owen Leong, Rory Mullen, Wang Ningde, Alfonzo Padilla, Stanley Reed, Harold Riley, Jamie Wilson, Juliet Wood.
Install image: Liz Wewiora
He was a wild one
16 September 2019 – Friday 17 January 2020
He was a wild one draws together British music photography from the 1950s and 1960s, from the Open Eye Gallery archive in Liverpool and the University of Salford Art Collection. Part of the Together We Move engagement programme, inspired by the Everything I Have Is Yours film commission.
Patrick Hughes, My Room, 2012.
Shifting Perspectives
Thursday 23 May – Friday 2 August 2019
Works from the Collection alongside visual and written submissions from Critical & Contextual Studies at the School of Arts and Media. Together, the works consider a range of ‘shifting perspectives’: physical, visual, and emotional.
Image: courtesy of Patrick Hughes, Flowers Gallery, London and New York. Photograph by Museum Photography North West.
Craig Easton, Maizi, Runcorn (2017)
Sixteen
Monday 18 February – Friday 10 May 2019
In a major new touring exhibition, leading contemporary photographers join forces to present the multimedia project Sixteen, exploring the dreams, hopes and fears of sixteen-year olds across the UK.
Working with photography, film, social media, audio recordings and writing, the project brings together the faces and voices of more than a hundred young people from diverse communities across the United Kingdom. Locations span large conurbations such as London, Birmingham and Manchester, the South West, Northern Ireland, the Scottish Islands, and post-industrial areas of the North.
Artists: Craig Easton, Jillian Edelstein, Christopher Nunn, Simon Roberts and Michelle Sank.
Wang Ningde, Some Days No. 3, 2002. Photograph. Courtesy the artist and Michael Goedhuis. © Wang Ningde.
In Focus: Chinese Contemporary Art
Monday 12 November 2018 – Friday 1 February 2019
The Chinese Contemporary Art collection has been developed since 2013, mainly in partnership with the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA) and Open Eye Gallery. It includes a wide range of works in painting, sculpture, installation and new media.
This exhibition shares a selection of works on campus, following the popular exhibition Presence at St George’s Hall, Liverpool (9 Feb – 3 June 2018) which was the first display of this collection in its entirety.
Artists: Han Feng, Wang Ningde, Ma Qiusha, Tian Taiquan, Yan Xing, Lu Xinjian, Liang Yue
Cecile Elstein, A Letter from Mrs. Gould, 1981. Screenprint. © Cecile Elstein. Photograph: Museums Photography North West.
Push and Pull
Monday 25 June – Friday 26 October 2018
Push and Pull draws together prints made in and around Salford and Manchester from the late 1970s to the present day, including works made at the Manchester Print Workshop, Hot Bed Press and Islington Mill alongside new work by University of Salford graduates.
The exhibition coincides with Print UnLtd. at Salford Museum and Art Gallery (26 May – 14 October 2018)
Artists: Lubna Ali, Claudia Alonso, Maurice Carlin, Cecile Elstein, Michael Green, Kip Gresham, Sadé Mica, Richard Riley, Paul Ritchie, Alan Whitehead
Still from Fattie in a Chair (2018) by Megan Ashcroft. Courtesy the artist.
Embody
30 April – Friday 15 June 2018
A collaboration between Critical & Contextual Studies in the School of Arts and Media and the University of Salford Art Collection.
Embody reflects a post-millennial revaluation of identity and features a selection of students’ written and visual works from Independent Research Project 2018, exploring themes of the body, gender, personal expression and equality.
Paired with students works are selected artworks from the permanent Collection, which address connected themes, including: Albert Adams, Hazel Clegg, Louise Giovanelli and Sarah Hardacre.
Shezad Dawood, Leviathan Cycle Episode 1: Ben, 2017. Digital video
Shezad Dawood – Leviathan Cycle, Episode 1: Ben
4 December 2017 – Thursday 29 March 2018
In dialogue with a wide range of marine biologists, oceanographers, political scientists, neurologists and trauma specialists, Leviathan explores the notions of marine welfare, migration and mental health and their possible interconnections.
An ambitious ten-part film cycle, conceived and directed by artist Shezad Dawood, the first two episodes (Ben and Yasmine) premiered at the 57th Venice Art Biennale and the third episode (Arturo) was shot on location in and around Venice.
Episode 1 of the cycle was commissioned by University of Salford Art Collection and Leviathan – Human and Marine Ecology, with support from The Contemporary Art Society.
Darren Nixon, The Awkward Ambassador (the mixer), 2016. Paint on wood. Photograph Arthur Siuksta.
Synthesis
13 October – Friday 10 November 2017
Synthesis brings together 5 recent acquisitions for the University of Salford Art Collection and represents the three main collecting priorities: From the North , About the Digital and Chinese Contemporary Art .
Although individually very different, each work reveals some of the hidden concepts or overlooked processes behind how objects and artworks are made. The exhibition also demonstrates our commitment to working in partnership with arts organisations across the North West to support the development of new work by artists.
Artists: Darren Nixon, Willow Rowlands, Kong Chun Hei, Brass Art, Liam Young
The Surface of Things
3 July – 11 August 2017
This exhibition is a collaboration between PAPER, Manchester and Durden & Ray, Los Angeles, and is hosted by University of Salford as part of the Manifest Arts Festival, a contemporary art biennial running from the Wednesday 5 – Sunday 9 July 2017.
Artists: Lisa Denyer, Frances Disley, EC, Brendan Fletcher, Roni Feldman, Jenny Hager, Sharon Hall, Vincent Hawkins, David Leapman, Mali Morris RA, Max Presneill
Katie Shaw, Reflection/Reflect, 2017
Graduate Scholars 2017
9 June – 28 June 2017
An exhibition featuring work by some of this year’s Graduate Scholars. The exhibition includes sculptures, video and sound works.
Artists: Olivia Brittain, Joseph Burton, Hannah Connor, Laura Daniels, Katie Shaw, Cecily Shrimpton.
Part of Create Festival 2017
Adrian Henri, Souvenir of Normandy II, 1981. © Estate of Adrian Henri, by kind permission of C.Marcangeli. Artwork photography by Museum Photography North West.
Memory
Guest curated by Chancellor Jackie Kay
Part of the Dear Library project
22 February – Friday 26 May 2017
Memory launches the year-long Dear Library project – an initiative conceived by University of Salford Chancellor and writer-in-residence Jackie Kay, to champion libraries and celebrate the breadth of services they offer.
The exhibition combines selected items from the University of Salford Libraries, Archive & Special Collections with artworks from the Art Collection on the themes of ‘truth, authenticity and memory’.
Jackie has also written three new poems for the exhibition, with recollections of holidays, adventures and journeys to new places as a particular focus. Visitors and students are also invited to share new poems on the ‘memory wall’.
Artists include: Darren Almond, Adrian Henri, Simon Faithfull, Weegee.
Gillian Davenport, Jo Byrne, ‘The Wheel of Truth’, 2017
Mixed Media.
Art in the Post-Truth Era
27 January – Thursday 9 February 2017
A School of Arts & Media exhibition
Art in the Post-truth Era is an exhibition that explores one of the most talked about facets of contemporary culture: ‘Post-truth’ was hailed by the Oxford English Dictionary as the word of the year in 2016.
The artists explore this new terrain in a variety of media. They have worked collaboratively and are drawn from undergraduate and post-graduate programmes within the School of Arts & Media and include students from Visual Arts, Photography, Graphic Design and Media & Performance.
Bust of Friedrich Engels. Photograph by Arthur Siuksta.
Jai Redman: The Making of Engel’s Beard
22 September 2017 – January 2018
The inaugral exhibition at the New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery, celebrating the opening of the New Adelphi Building for Arts and Media, and the launch of Engel’s Beard, a new permanent public sculpture on the heart of campus.
The exhibition includes drawing, writing, sculpture, video, photography, mixed media and archival materials from the ‘making of’ the commission.