TEN - A retrospective of TEN years of work by Stephen Snoddy at Saul Hay Gallery

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It will celebrate work across all his mediums – paintings, works on paper, collages, pastels and monotypes.

His art, which is noted for its geometric structure and bright colour, is interrelated across all mediums and techniques. Through his own work, Snoddy wants viewers to look at the relationships between his pieces and how he carries lines and formats from one artwork over to another. He changes medium to start afresh to bring new ideas and forms into play, often starting by picking up on elements from a previous painting, constructing a multi-lined grid and seeing each piece as a relative of the earlier painting. He perceives the activity of making art similar to constructing a building; that structure is the absolute key to a fully considered and contemplative work of art.

He has had solo exhibitions at Roberto Polo Gallery, Brussels, The Artists Workhouse, Warwickshire, The Rabley Drawing Centre, Wiltshire and Southampton City Art Gallery. This is the first time Snoddy will have a solo exhibition at Saul Hay and in his home town of Manchester.

Ian Hay, Director of Saul Hay Gallery says: “Having been working with Stephen since 2017 we are delighted to bring to Saul Hay Gallery his first Manchester solo exhibition and to celebrate ten years since Stephen returned to his studio practice. Stephen's artistic process is a fascinating one whereby through, on the face of it a fairly strict formal discipline, he produces endlessly varied works that are carefully structured and contemplative.”

Snoddy is currently the Director of The New Art Gallery, Walsall and is one of the UK’s most respected Museum Directors having curated many exhibitions at the following gallery spaces: Serpentine Gallery, The Whitechapel, Camden Arts Centre, Leeds City Art Gallery, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin and The Haags Gemeentemuseum. He has worked at Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol, Cornerhouse in Manchester, Southampton City Art Gallery, Milton Keynes Gallery and Baltic in Gateshead.

Stephen Snoddy says: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to bring ten years of work under one roof. It will give me and visitors the chance to look at interconnections, conversations and dialogues between the different scales, formats, mediums and techniques of the work.”

Snoddy has also lectured at a number of art colleges and was Visiting Professor from 2019 until 2022 at Manchester School of Art. He is an Honorary Member of the Royal Ulster Society and was on the Visual Arts Committee of the British Council. In 2011, he visited Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories to advise on the development of a potential new Palestinian Museum of Art.

Saul Hay Gallery hosts a vibrant collection of painters, sculptors, printmakers, photographers and ceramicists from the Manchester region and beyond. For more information visit www.saulhayfineart.co.uk.