Holly Grange

University of Manchester

Supervised by Dr Leanne Green, Head of Exhibitions and Displays, Tate Liverpool; Helen Legg, Director, Tate Liverpool; Dr Danielle Child, Lecturer in Creative and Cultural Industries, University of Manchester; Dr Ana Baeza Ruiz, Lecturer in Museology, University of Manchester; Dr Alice Correia, Independent curator and art historian.

October 2025–

The 1980s marked a pivotal period in the UK, particularly in Northern England, shaped by Thatcherism, rapid deindustrialisation, the miners’ strikes and the 1981 uprisings in cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds. Against this turbulent backdrop, artistic practice in the North flourished in diverse and often oppositional ways, informed by feminist, socialist and postcolonial thought.

This research aims to uncover the vibrant and often overlooked art histories of Northern England during the 1980s, contributing to a decentralised and non-hierarchical art history that moves beyond London-centric narratives. It will examine the contexts in which art was produced, the ideological and aesthetic discourses that emerged, and the themes, materials and practices cultivated during this period. The project draws on artists’ personal archives, the records of grassroots collectives, the archives of Northern arts organisations and Tate’s collection and archives, alongside oral histories with artists active in the North.

A central focus is how artists resisted dominant political and cultural forces not only through subject matter, but through the creation of alternative spaces, grassroots networks, and collective forms of solidarity. While rooted in the local, the research adopts a transnational approach, reflecting the North’s historic global connections, and will contribute to an exhibition at Tate Liverpool in 2028 curated by Dr Leanne Green and Dr Alice Correia.

About Holly Grange

Holly Grange is an independent curator and researcher based in Leeds, with over 18 years’ experience working across institutions including Leeds Art Gallery, the Whitworth, S1 Artspace, The Hepworth Wakefield and Tate St Ives. Her curatorial practice centres on collaboration with artists, collections, archives and communities, with a particular focus on surfacing overlooked histories and creating opportunities for audiences to engage critically with the narratives that shape our shared cultural lives. Holly’s research interests span feminist, regional and diasporic art histories, and she is especially committed to amplifying perspectives and practices that are often marginalised within institutional spaces.

If you have any information, contacts or archive material related to the PhD topic Art from the North 1979–90, please get in touch by emailing holly.grange@tate.org.uk.