Soho House Manchester
The Soho House Manchester art collection comprises over 100 works by 53 artists across the site. Every artist selected has a relationship with the North West of England, having been born, based or studied in the region
The House includes a large scale site-specific commission by Ryan Gander. The first artwork to take over an entire outward facing window in the global collection, Ryan’s text-based piece reads, 'Let the world take a turn, Dad.' Borrowed from a saying of his father’s the artist explains, “Aside from his main occupation as a line engineer in a car factory, my father was also a bit of an amateur philosopher, with an incredible stoic and logical yet poetic attitude towards life. Much of the knowledge he is passed down to me, which has stood me in great stead throughout my life, was through the template of self-formed sayings, mottos or phrases.” The saying, which sits on a large glass window overlooking the rooftop pool and the skyline of Manchester beyond, is hand painted to appear as a Rorschach inkblot test, a mirror image legible from both sides, equalising the perspective of inside and outside, private and public.
Other museum level artists in the collection include key works by Lubaina Himid, Louise Giovanelli, Sonia Boyce and Simeon Barclay. The House also features two further commissions, a sculptural installation made from repurposed snooker cues and foam board piece made with objects found in the local area by Jack Brown.
Several works in the collection employ a typically Northern sense of humour, especially notable in the text-based works of Corbin Shaw, Jim Brooks, Chester Tenneson and Mike Sian.
The collection includes several recent graduates of Manchester School of Art including Rachel Morgan, Jess power, Parham Ghalamdar and also a lecturer from the same institution, Sarah Joy Ford.
The permanent art collection for Soho House Manchester was curated by our Chief Art Director Kate Bryan and Art Collections Manager Jack Lazenby between 2023-25.
