Exhibition 'Alan J. Thompson: Paintings and Drawings from Observation' in Central Art Gallery
WHEN Alan J Thompson paints, each mark he makes is a direct response to the sensation of what is in front of him.
He works directly from observation and that is immediately evident in his exhibition which opens at Tameside Central Art Gallery on Saturday, January 20. Aptly called “Paintings and Drawings from Observation” it captures urban and rural views of the borough and beyond.
Another feature of Alan’s work is that he never uses more than seven colours in a painting. Each is done with oils applied directly from the tube on to a primed wooden panel.
Born in Hyde in 1940, Alan attended Manchester School of Art (then the regional college of art) in the late Fifties where he studied under fellow Hydonian Harry Rutherford. Alan continued to paint while teaching at various colleges and further education centres but gave up the profession in 1989 to focus solely on art.
Alan’s work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy and Royal Scottish Academy, as well as at numerous exhibitions in the North West.
Many of the paintings in the Tameside exhibition are being shown for the first time. They include views of familiar landmarks in Ashton and Hyde, landscapes of Mottram and Werneth Low, and scenes from other locations around Greater Manchester.