Three new artworks have been added to Rochdale’s public art collection, after Touchstones Rochdale secured funding from both Art Fund and the James Handley Bequest to acquire new works by artists Susan Collis, Clare Kenny and Jessica Rankin.

Rochdale’s collection of artworks has grown to more than 1,600 items.

The pieces have been acquired after Touchstones was awarded £65,000 as part of Art Fund’s New Collecting Awards scheme in March 2017.  £17,000 of the funding has been used to purchase three works at a time when many local authority collections have been forced to sell, or consider parting with high-value artworks.

£11,000 of that investment has now been placed in the purchase of intriguing works by both Lancashire-born, Swiss-based artist, Clare Kenny, whose reflections on her childhood in Rochdale and Heywood are manifested in printed glass replicas of petrol spills, and New York-based, Australian artist, Jessica Rankin.

Titled MG Montego (Heywood), 2017, Kenny’s contribution to the collection is designed to rest simply on the floor of the gallery and, inlaid with sticks and leaves, gently reflects the subtle rainbow effect of petrol resting on the surface of rain water. Currently exhibiting her work in the exhibition, Stone/Folding at Touchstones, Rankin’s work titled Silver Study, 2011 employs the artist’s interest in textiles and embroidery to dramatic effect.

Drawing on funds from the James Handley Bequest, a charity trust established to support Rochdale’s art collecting ambitions, the borough now owns an intriguing installation by leading, London-based artist, Susan Collis. Renowned for her playful, painstakingly made recreations of seemingly worthless, left-behind objects, Touchstones has purchased Our Wandering Kind (2011). A constellation of screws and Rawlplugs in a wall conceal a valuable secret, with each component made of valuable materials including gold, platinum, sapphires and diamonds.

Speaking of the acquisitions, Mark Doyle, Art Gallery Curator and Collections Manager at Touchstones Rochdale commented, “£11,000 of that investment has now been placed in the purchase of intriguing works by both Lancashire-born, Swiss-based artist, Clare Kenny, whose reflections on her childhood in Rochdale and Heywood are manifested in printed glass replicas of petrol spills, and New York-based, Australian artist, Jessica Rankin.

Titled MG Montego (Heywood), 2017, Kenny’s contribution to the collection is designed to rest simply on the floor of the gallery and, inlaid with sticks and leaves, gently reflects the subtle rainbow effect of petrol resting on the surface of rain water. Currently exhibiting her work in the exhibition, Stone/Folding at Touchstones, Rankin’s work titled Silver Study, 2011 employs the artist’s interest in textiles and embroidery to dramatic effect.

Drawing on funds from the James Handley Bequest, a charity trust established to support Rochdale’s art collecting ambitions, the borough now owns an intriguing installation by leading, London-based artist, Susan Collis. Renowned for her playful, painstakingly made recreations of seemingly worthless, left-behind objects, Touchstones has purchased Our Wandering Kind (2011). A constellation of screws and Rawlplugs in a wall conceal a valuable secret, with each component made of valuable materials including gold, platinum, sapphires and diamonds.”

Each of the artists have exhibited as part of the gallery’s Contemporary Forward series of exhibitions through 2017, a programme that has sought to bring renowned female artists working with bold, progressive ideas to Rochdale and Greater Manchester.