Printmaker's 50 years of work on display

The secrets of the screen printer revealed. John McGowan shows how his prints are developed.

Evocative prints of many local landmarks will be shown by John McGowan at the display entitled Retrospective.

His exhibition at the Yarrow Gallery, Oundle, will bring together over 90 of his prints from 1963 to the present. The event runs from November 4 to November 18 with its opening times 10.30am to 1pm and 2.30pm to 5pm on Monday to Saturday and 2.30pm to 5pm on Sundays.

Originally a painter, his printmaking practice developed radically in 1979/80, when he began a print series based on images of the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal.

Recent work has featured Helpston Paper Mill, Oundle architecture and a return to the Northampton Canals. Prints are produced in small editions in his own studio near Peterborough. He still continues to experiment with print techniques and subject matter, particularly through a 25 year long “cubist” series. The exhibition will also include a series of print proofs that demonstrate how his work evolves. You can also look at a series of books about his research into his local sources of images.

John taught art at Arthur Mellows Village College and Oundle School. It was in the Yarrow Gallery in 2003 that he became re-acquainted with the prints of John Piper, whose work continues to provide inspiration.