Anyone who has been through Manchester’s Trafford Park will be familiar with Brian Fell’s landmark sculpture Skyhooks which, among other works like the Ha-Ha Bridge at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Cardiff Bay’s Merchant Seaman’s Memorial, has made him one of the UK’s leading sculptors.

And, if you visited HOME’s first Manchester Open exhibition in 2022, you might well have voted for the winner of the public choice award, Octopus, by Brian’s son, George.

Now, a new exhibition at The Atkinson in Southport explores the decades-long careers of the father and son who work primarily in the public realm but also explore their own interests and passions in steel, paper and music.

I’m really excited about the show and having the chance to see their work coming together. A few years ago, I was asked if I would help an artist who needed his website updating and a bit of marketing support. That was George Fell. As it happened, I worked with his father many years ago at Cornerhouse in Manchester, who, at the time, also needed a bit of assistance in the same area. Having admired both artists, on both occasions I asked for a piece of work from each as payment. That’s why I have an original Brian Fell abstract and a George Fell Octopus in my home. And that’s why our virtual cup of tea to discuss this upcoming exhibition was such a pleasure.

Northern Soul: What can we expect from your new show at the Atkinson, Always Something New?
Brian Fell: It’s going to be a right mix of work, having both of us in it. There’ll be figurative work, lots of animals, very representational, and there’s going to be a demonstration of how we work and the techniques we use, some photography and my abstract work too.

George Fell: There’ll be a big site-specific piece made specifically for the exhibition that we’re working on together that’s inspired by Southport and the local environment. Let’s say we’re going for maximalism. We’ve got some work from private collections and some machettes of the larger public work but, as the name suggests, we want what’s on show to be about where we are now.

BF: Plus the big public works are well-bolted down, they’re staying put. The reason it’s called Always Something New is because a bus driver used to come to our workshop to use the kitchen and toilet and, as he was walking through, he’d always sing something based on that old Cat Stevens song, ‘Brian and son. The work’s never done There’s always something new…’

NS: You’ve created work together before and this show highlights your co-creations and your individual work. Do you each have a preference for working alone or together?
GF: It’s what the circumstance requires. A lot of our work is prompted by external factors. An enquiry about a commission might mean that we can combine forces and create something on a larger scale and benefit from each other’s angle. You don’t want to be dependent on each other and you have to explore your own journey but it’s good to combine skills sometimes.

BF: Both are equally enjoyable. I love working with George and it’s nice to bounce ideas when we’re making things, but also it’s nice to occupy your own little world and get on with your own ideas.

GF: Having each other at each other’s disposal is empowering but we’ve each got separate ambitions about what we want to get across so there’s not a co-dependency.

NS: Brian, your public work will be recognisable to many, particularly the Skyhooks at Trafford and the Ha-Ha Bridge at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Your work is often on a big scale. What’s the landscape at the moment for such large-scale commissions? Are they harder to come by?
BF: I think it’s changed a bit. If you think about the amount of dosh that’s about…A landmark sculpture would be commissioned by a local authority but now, when they can’t fill a pothole in the road, that might been seen as frivolous or wasteful. And now there’s more emphasis on community work and community involvement, which is fine but not how I work.

GF: Local authorities and things like the Arts Council’s generosity seems to be dwindling but there are developers who do sometimes have budget set aside. If you’re determined, you can find it but you have to do a lot of work to secure a commission these days. You have to be resilient. The market here has shifted – large-scale public work isn’t being made here now, it’s happening elsewhere in the world. But we still constantly look out for large and small-scale commissions, public or private.

NS: George, you won the public vote for HOME’s first Manchester Open with your Octopus sculpture. What was that like for you and did it open up other commissions?

GF: It did. It was affirmation for me. Up to that point, I don’t think I’d taken myself seriously. Metalwork and sculpture was something I kind of fell into. He was my dad so I’d always only had him to compare myself to in terms of my ability, and that’s quite a high bar. So it was only at that point where I realised that I could get excited about my work. It opened up my eyes as to what aspects of my work I should push forward. That sculpture was a lot about movement and texture and about subverting expectations about what steel should look like, as it was very soft and flowing. I’m interested in the alchemy of that. Winning that made me want to show steel as soft or emotional, to try and make things look alive. Not many people are using steel like that. It’s also a more affordable material and I’m trying to explore commissions of handmade work that are genuinely affordable, that people can buy without needing a loan.

NS: After the show at The Atkinson, what’s coming up for you both?
GF: I have an exciting commission in Leeds making red kites to embellish a housing development, referencing the environment and the industrial heritage of the city. I’ve just finished a new album too which launches soon, but it’ll be playing during the exhibition which is quite exciting. Also I’m making 500 steel dragonflies that will be on display in Cannon Hall Gardens, Barnsley as an appeal for Barnsley Hospice. They will be installed in mid-July.

BF: I’ll be giving him a hand with his kites and I’ll be carrying on with my abstract work, so I won’t be idle.

By Robert Martin

Main image: Brian and George Fell at The Atkinson in Southport, 2026. Photo by Dave Jones.

 

Always Something New by Brian and George Fell is at The Atkinson in Southport until October 17, 2026. For more information, click here.

To read Northern Soul’s review of Always Something New, click here.