The majority of our work is acquired through a ‘commission to collect’ model, though we also collect through gifts, bequests, transfers and occasional purchases. Find some highlights below or join our newsletter to keep up to date with our latest opportunities, commissions, and acquisitions.
Summer 2023
Artist: Cecile Elstein
Artwork: The Sisyphus Suite (1979-80)
Medium: Screenprint, series
The Sisyphus Suite is a series of 8 screenprints made between 1979-80 by Cecile Elstein in response to the 1942 philosophical essay The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus (1913 – 1960). Made during a period of upheaval, finally settling in Manchester after relocating several times, Elstein began work on The Sisyphus Suite as a means to engage in the creative process during this time of transition.
Cecile Elstein (b. 1938, Cape Town, South Africa) is a printmaker, sculptor, and environmental artist based in Didsbury, South Manchester. In the 1980s, Elstein worked at the Manchester Print Workshop with the Master Printer Kip Gresham. The Workshop was based at the University of Salford until 1985. The Sisyphus Suite was gifted to the University of Salford Art Collection from Cecile Elstein Studio Ltd in 2023. The series of Screenprints joins existing work by Elstein held in the Collection from her time working at the Manchester Print Workshop.
Autumn 2022
Artist: Wu Yue
Artwork: A Transparent Separation (2020)
Medium: Photograph, series
Wu Yue’s photograph from the series A Transparent Separation were taken in Wuhan during the early days of the Covid-19 outbreak, capturing life on the ground at the outset of an unprecedented event in human history. Offering a unique personal lens on a global story, the images make visible moments of both isolation and connection at a time when no-one could predict what the future would hold.
Wu Yue (b. 1988, Chongqing, China) is photojournalist and documentary filmmaker, based in Shanghai and Chongqing. A Transparent Separation was commissioned as part of the first Peer to Peer in 2019, produced in partnership with University of Salford Art Collection, in collaboration with Open Eye Gallery, and supported by Branding Shanghai and Shanghai Municipal Government.
Spring 2022
Artist: SHARP
Artwork: Dancing With Elvis (1999-2021)
Medium: Series of 4 photographic prints
Sitting somewhere ‘between self-portrait and still-life’ SHARP’s Dancing with Elvis was originally created whilst at University in the late 1990s. An act of queer reflection, the work presents SHARP’s ‘queer gaze upon themselves via the television screen – mirrored via Elvis is a masculinity, a butchness, and a queerness which is overt and desired’, and is situated within SHARP’s everyday life.
Created under Section 28, which criminalised the promotion of homosexuality, SHARP’s butch dyke and non-binary identity is not something that was available via mainstream media, or even within their art education at the time. Dancing with Elvis was created out of necessity, as a personal exploration during a time of censorship.
SHARP is an artist, curator, activist and creative producer. They graduated from BA Visual Art and Culture in 1999. They have exhibited and performed widely across the UK and internationally, and have work held in number of public and private collections. They are a member of the Tate’s Queer British Network, and a cofounder of arts organisation DECODER.
Dancing with Elvis was kindly donated to the Collection by the artist in 2022. It joins our ‘From the North’ strand, as well as adding to our growing collection of work by queer & non-binary artists.
Spring 2022
Artist: Mishka Henner
Artwork: Selfie (2017)
Medium: Reflective dye sublimation print on aluminium
Henner’s practice ‘navigates through digital terrain to focus on key subjects of cultural and geo-political interest – often reflecting on cultural and industrial infrastructures.
To make Selfie, the artist zoomed all the way out from their studio address in Manchester on Google Earth – and then zoomed out even further. Using an intentionally reflective surface, the viewer finds their own image superimposed on the small earth – especially when taking a photo or selfie. The artist comments: “With your reflection in the picture, this is you, the world, and everything you’ve ever known”.
Selfie was acquired to mark the launch of Energy House 2.0, a world-leading new facility on campus. It is display alongside other works chosen from the Art Collection, which all consider how we use technology to understand the world around us. The University Collection also includes two earlier works by Henner, Wasson Oil and Gas Field, Yoakum County, Texas (2013-14) and Cedar Point Oil Field, Harris County, Texas (2013-14)
Part of our About the Digital collection strand.
About the artist: Born in Belgium in 1976, Henner now lives and works in Greater Manchester. He exhibits nationally and internationally, and has work held in public and private collections.