Touchstones Rochdale reveals 80s themed innovative exhibition

In the 1980s, Touchstones Rochdale was known as the Rochdale Art Gallery and its bold approach to exhibition and education programming positioned it on the national map.

Touchstones is showcasing a look back at the legacy of the 1980s exhibition programme from Rochdale Art Gallery in the new exhibition A Tall Order! this Spring.

Originally led by Jill Morgan alongside a small and changing team in the 1980s, Rochdale Art Gallery showcased pioneering work that commented on major social and political events.

Charles Donald Taylor, The Construction of College Bank Flats, Rochdale

Touchstones is presenting many of these works in the new exhibition which gives visitors a unique look back in time and celebrates the small, civic gallery in the North.

The exhibition has been created in collaboration with Touchstones Rochdale and two independent research curators, Derek Horton and Alice Correia, and has took over all four gallery spaces.

Veronica Slater, Soul Identified as Flesh

Derek Horton, co-curator of A Tall Order! said:

“There was so much happening during the 1980s, it was a radical time for Britain as it faced major social and political events.

“The vision for this exhibit was to shine a light on artworks that framed the decade so well, including those that may have caused an uproar at the time.

Bhajan Hunjan, Peacock Feather

“Jill Morgan and her team at Rochdale Art Gallery were courageous and groundbreaking in the 80s, and created a space for previously marginalised or excluded artists to articulate their own experiences through a medium they knew best.

“The vision of A Tall Order! was to create an impact of our own through the expressions of art, both past and present, demonstrating that galleries still have the potential to become a tool for social change.”

Exploring themes of Work and Labour; Land and our Environment; Rochdale at the Heart of Everything; and Power, Identity, and Representation, A Tall Order! provides a creative nod to the themes of the 80s, and what was known at the time as ‘issuesbased’ art.

This exhibit includes works shown by well-known artists of the 80s including Terry Atkinson, Sutapa Biswas, Sonia Boyce, Sarah Edge, Susan Hiller, Lubaina Himid, John Hyatt, and Stephen Willats, and also highlights works from Touchstones Rochdale’s permanent collection, including pieces by William Hogarth and Vanessa Bell.

A Tall Order is at Touchstones Rochdale until 6th May 2023.

Lucy Fieldhouse