An Exhibition of the work of

ANNE YVONNE GILBERT Graphic Artist and Illustrator

Saturday 11th November till Saturday 30th December 2006

NEWCASTLE ARTS CENTRE, Westgate Road.

Monday to Saturday 9am – 5pm

Admission Free.

Exhibition Opening 6-8pm Friday 10th November
in the Gallery at Newcastle Arts Centre
continuing on in the Black Swan along side our regular Salsa night.

Welcome to Yvonne Gilbert’s World.

This is a rare opportunity to see a large selection of one of the North East’s most celebrated graphic artist’s work gathered under one roof showing the many facets of her work from pin-ups to picture-books. Her command of technique and imagery have bought Gilbert many awards and the admiration of the illustration community both in the UK and the USA, where the majority of her published work has appeared.
Her achievements are impressive; several sets of Royal Mail Stamps (winner of the World’s most beautiful stamp and the Golden Stamp award); Frankie goes to Hollywood’s “Relax” cover voted one of the 100 Best Record Sleeves of all Time; many Picture Books including “Goodnight, My Angel” for Billy Joel; and work in the private collections of A list celebrities (Arnold Schwarzenegger, the late HRH. Princess Margaret and Peter Gabriel to name a few).

Many of Yvonne Gilbert's artworks are drawn with coloured pencils, a technique most of us abandon after school days are over along with double geography. The spindly coloured lines used to chart annual rainfall or paper production rates in her hand are transformed as by magic. All the delights of Pre-Raphaelite surface splendour and detail are present here in her extraordinary work, an alchemy of colour and texture. To stand in front of her originals is to ask "How does she do it?".

Allied to this command of her chosen medium comes a great depth of artistic knowledge. Most artists attempting fantasy art wade through cliché; North East born Gilbert's extraordinary imagination and superb judgment carry her easily over the traps. Her exceptional gift is to invest, heaven alone knows how, her subjects with a real presence. Her characters have a depth and psychological truth which is unusually sharp and precise. Underneath the swirling dresses and embroidered jackets her princesses and princes are never just walk on parts.

Why? Because she stands in a long tradition of British illustrators - Dulac, Rackham and Heath Robinson - whose marvellous artworks constitute the Great Tradition of illustration worldwide. Stands, yes; but not in their shadow.

Prints of Yvonne’s work will be for sale during the exhibition along with recent publications of some of the children’s books she has illustrated. An opportunity to buy something really original this Christmas.

 Newcastle Arts Centre, 67 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SG 0191 261 5618.

Yvonne’s work can be viewed on her website: www.yvonnegilbert.com

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