This year I have been eagerly anticipating being able to share this great news:
Soho House in Manchester have acquired 6 of my paintings into their permanent collection. Hooray!
The Manchester branch of Soho House opened in November in the former Granada TV Studios building.
Chief Art Director Kate Bryan and Art Collections Manager Jack Lazenby selected 100 works by 53 artists who all have a connection to Northern England and Manchester.
It’s a real honour for my work to be included alongside big-name established artists, such as Lubaina Himid, Ryan Gander and Sonia Boyce, as well as all the fantastic artists who (like myself) may be less well known.
Soho House is an exclusive members-only club with branches (or “houses”) all over the world. This is their first one in Northern England. They have a reputation for their museum-quality art collection, which features works by some very famous artists (think Hockney, Emin, Hirst…). So it’s obvious to see why this is big news for me!
You can read more about the collection and download a PDF of the Art Map which has the full list of artists (plus photos of the works).
People aren’t usually allowed to take photos inside the Houses, as they try to respect the privacy of some of their more celebrity members – but I was given permission to take the photo that you see of me here! My painting ‘A boy who loves apples’ is in this photo next to my big smiling face.
I really enjoyed meeting the other artists and the curators at a fancy lunch last week, and it has really made me feel great. Any one reading this who also owns one of my paintings, follows me on social media, reads this blog or has been to visit me in my studio – you get to feel great too – thank you for supporting me!
Have a fantastic Christmas break (if you do that sort of thing) ❤️
Helen Dryden 