
Arts Council Collection announced UK-based artists Anne Tallentire, Julianknxx, Mark Corfield-Moore and Tanao Sasraku as the successful recipients of its inaugural Acquisitions Fund launched at Frieze London this week.
The acquisition represents a remarkable opportunity for Tallentire, Julianknxx, Corfield-Moore and Sasraku whose works will now join the Arts Council Collection, one of the most widely circulated
national collections of modern and contemporary British art.
On behalf of our founding patrons, and acquisitions committee, with the support from Art Fund, we are thrilled to welcome Anne Tallentire, Julianknxx, Mark Corfield-Moore and Tanao Sasraku into the Arts Council Collection. This Fund is representative of the important role of the Arts Council Collection to continue to build and preserve the British public’s art collection for its use and enjoyment.
Deborah Smith, Director of Arts Council Collection
Tallentire is represented by Hollybush Gardens [booth E4]; Julianknxx is represented by Edel Assanti [booth G10]; Corfield-Moore is part of Outset Studio Makers curated by Annie Jael Kwan; and Sasraku is represented by Vardaxoglou Gallery [booth H10].
The Arts Council Collection Acquisitions Fund is a further expression of its unwavering commitment to supporting early-career and overlooked artists in the UK by acquiring and displaying their works in the country. Leading this initiative is Deborah Smith, Director of Arts Council Collection, who has gathered a distinguished and dedicated group of founding Acquisitions Fund patrons.
Following a rigorous research and selection process, the final selection was made by the Arts CouncilmCollection Acquisitions Committee 2023-2024. The committee includes artist John Walter; Harriet Cooper, Independent curator and Director of Jerwood Curatorial Accelerator; Vanessa Peterson, Frieze Associate Editor, writer, and photographer; Marie-Anne McQuay, Director of Projects at Art and Heritage; Ralph Rugoff, Director of Hayward Gallery; Peter Heslip, Director of Visual Arts at Arts Council England; Deborah Smith, Director of Arts Council Collection, and is chaired by Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England.
Throughout the history of the Arts Council Collection, artists have played a significant role not only through the acquisitions and loans of their work but also in helping to shape the Collection. Several artists have been on the Arts Council Collection’s rotating acquisitions committee, with previous figures including Anthea Hamilton, Sonia Boyce, Ryan Gander, Susan Collins and Simeon Barclay. Artists curate exhibitions from the Collection such as ‘Found Cities Lost Objects’ curated by Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid which opens at Leeds Museum in December 2023.
Works from the Arts Council Collection can currently be seen at the following: Arts Council Collection’s renowned tapestries ‘Vanity of Small Differences’ by Grayson Perry which recently opened at Lincoln Museum; four paintings by Claudette Johnson are included in her retrospective at the Courtauld Gallery; ‘Condor and The Mole’ by Lynette Yiadom Boakye is in ‘World’s Away: Art, Nature and Wellbeing’ at Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham; Mike Nelson’s ‘Taylor’, a life size makeshift raft, is at the Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art in Sunderland; and a recent acquisition ‘Raft’ by Rory Pilgrim has been nominated for this year’s Turner Prize at Towner Eastbourne.