Top 5: Collectable living Manchester artists ft. Susan Gunn, Harold Riley & more

Harold Riley was born in Salford in 1934. He attended Salford Grammer School and in 1951 won a scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art and later went on to study in Italy and Spain, before returning to Salford. He was awarded honorary doctorates at the university of Salford, Manchester, London and Florence. Riley cemented a friendship with L.S Lowry and together they worked on subjects relating to Manchester life. Riley undertook some notable portrait commissions including Pope John XII, Prince Philip, John F Kennedy and Nelson Mandela.

Gunn works with natural earth and mineral pigments, and base substances such as chalk, coal, and marble dust. She is interested in the history, origins, and anthropology of colour and naturally occurring materials. Gunn gained international recognition when she was awarded the Sovereign European Art Prize in 2006 , was shortlisted for the Greater Manchester Arts Prize in 2016 and was one of the prize winners of the Greater Manchester Art Prize 2017. She currently works from her studio space in Islington Mill.

Artist Geoffrey Key was born in Rusholme, Manchester in 1941. He studied at Manchester School of Art and later at Manchester Regional College of Art where he trained under Harry Rutherford. Since turning professional, Key has won various merits and held numerous solo exhibitions in the UK and around the world. Key’s work is very distinctive which evokes the style of Picasso and the bygone times of cubism. Key is one of leading artists of the Northern Art Movement, his work is held in important private and corporate collections, including Manchester Art Gallery.

An international artist with a reputation for unique and challenging work, Terry Duffy has exhibited in London, Paris, Berlin, Cape Town, Dresden, Philadelphia, and New York. Terry’s work was included in the John Moores Painting Prize in 2008 and his MONUMENTS installation of abstracts was included within Liverpool Biennial in the same year, exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery. In 2009 his work was included in the internationally prestigious Venice Biennale.

Jen Orpin graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1996 with a degree in Fine Art. She lives in Manchester and joined Rogue Artists’ Studios in 2000. She made the long list for the Jackson’s Open Painting Prize 2018, 2019 and 2020, has been a prize winner and has received several commendations. 2018 saw her appear in Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year where the judges chose her in their top three for the heat. In February 2020 she was one of 20 shortlisted artists from a submission entry of 2,000 in the first HOME Open exhibition Manchester.