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| 1980's The Toxteth Riots in 1981 signalled the next turning point in Duffy's work. He spent the next 2 years in his studio re-assessing and experimenting. The result was the "Victim Series", a collection of paintings that expressed his inner doubts, observations and comments concerning our society and culture. He then received a major Arts Award and produced the "Survivor Series" which was reviewed nationally with great enthusiasm and then exhibited in New York. So much was the enthusiasm for his work at the time that his work was shown on the cult TV programme The Tube. Questioning further his contribution within the community and culture and unable to separate his artwork from his commitment to Education (by 1986 he was the Head of Faculty of Art and Design in Liverpool) he began to investigate the possibility of opening a large scale arts studio. In 1985 he opened Arena Studios which was at the time the largest studio complex outside London. He also established "The British Art and Design Association" a registered charity which still to this day assists artists and designers nationally. Further experiments in his artwork led to the publication of "Her Revealing Dress", a collection of drawing and text which provides a sardonic commentary on the lifestyle of women in the 80's. Another artwork was used for the cover of Edmund Whites cult novel "Travels in Gay America". His paintings up to this period had been on an enormous scale but in the "Vessel Series". he began "to exploit the power and potential within a small scale". These paintings were primarily shown in New York. However, by 1988 continued aesthetic reductionism led to experiments in the abstract potential of line, form and colour and when offered a large scale show at the Laing he seized the opportunity to exhibit his new abstract paintings.
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