North west artist donates Bridgewater Canal painting to new Salford art exhibition

This is an archived news story from October 2011

A painting of the Bridgewater Canal donated by a celebrated local artist is going on display at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery from this Saturday (8 October) as part of a new exhibition to mark the canal's 250th anniversary.

Burnley-born Liam Spencer, who used to have a studio in Salford, is well-known for paintings that investigate both urban and rural landscapes from Salford, Manchester and Rossendale to New York and Beijing.

The painting called ‘Canal at Eccles', which is in his signature panoramic style, is one of the main attractions at the exhibition called ‘The First Cut: celebrating 250 years of the Bridgewater Canal'. It is running from Saturday 8 October to Sunday 22 January 2012 and has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Artist, Liam Spencer said: "As ever for me, the choice of subject was just a visual thing. I was attracted to the reflections and the different shapes and colours. The red brick building with the blue roof, the green sheds and the shed doors, the trees, the boats and the flag.

"It seemed to suit a panoramic format. I took a number of overlapping photographs and stitched them together digitally and used that as a basis to start painting from. In reality it's a very wide view, not 360 degrees but probably not far off."

Councillor Paula Boshell, Salford City Council's lead member for neighbourhoods, culture and leisure added: "It's fantastic that Liam Spencer, one of the north west's most prominent and respected painters, has been kind enough to donate his painting of the Bridgewater Canal to Salford's First Cut exhibition.

"I would urge anybody with an interest in art, the industrial revolution or Salford to come along to the exhibition at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery and see it for themselves."

More information on The First Cut exhibition. Find out more about artist, Liam Spencer.