Manchester
An exhibition of paintings and pencil drawings recording the present day renaissance of Manchester.Living in Glossop, Jean had naturally been to the centre of Manchester many times, to shop, visit the theatres or cinemas and explore the galleries and museums, but the Manchester where people live - the real Manchester -remained unknown to her.
Jean moved to Glossop in the High Peak in the early 90’s, attracted to the area by the earthy landscape and the close proximity to so many major cities.
For the previous fifteen years she had been the landlady of a small seaside hotel, the Flower in Hand, in Scarborough, the single parent of two daughters, and the accordion player in various Rhythm and Blues bands. Her paintings during this period concentrate on the seaside and beach - which she viewed every day from the windows of the hotel- and the people with whom she came into contact.
On moving to Glossop Jean opened a studio and for the next decade or so painted fulltime, exhibiting both in England and abroad. She continued to be inspired by the seaside, frequently returning to Scarborough to photograph and sketch the beach. Although she occasionally painted the hills and countryside of her new surroundings, it was not until recently that she was to discover another subject which she would find so absorbing.
Working alone in her studio did not suit Jean’s gregarious personality and even the formation of a duo playing French bistro music could not make up for the hustle and bustle of the hotel and the constant meeting of new people. So at the beginning last year Jean found herself working with Manchester’s Families Support Services, based on the fifth floor of a high rise office in West Gorton, and looking out at Manchester from a completely different angle.
Below, the rows of sprawling suburban terraces slotted into the patchwork of small parks, failing factories struggling or deserted pubs and grey areas of desolate wasteland. In the distance, seemingly always bathed in sunlight, the newly emerging landscape of high rise apartments and domesticated mills, shopping malls and emporiums of pleasure, still dwarfed by massive cranes slowly creeps towards what still remains of this bygone age
Fascinated by the contrast between the old and new, Jean embarked on an adventure as she began recording what remained of the Manchester that was destined to fall beneath the builder’s hammer and be gone for ever, the conversions of the old mills that some of the more enlightened entrepreneurs had had the vision to save and lovingly restore and the new buildings- audacious and awesome in their revolutionary concepts - as they rise from the ground.
Without sentiment she photographed and sketched old buildings that represented the spirit of the past, alongside new buildings that represent the optimism of the future. Studying both, she learned to enjoy equally the different ways in which old and new exploit the materials of their age. Names created by the industries of old, such as Winder Way and Weft Walk, now make way for the names that reflect the new age - such as the Northern Quarter or Green Quarter, indicating an area influenced by foreign romantic notions and inhabited by a fast growing populous.
From the photographs and sketches Jean is now producing a series of paintings and pencil drawings which sympathetically record the places that have captured her imagination and which she feels form a unique view of Manchester.
By its very nature this is a never ending project as more areas are cleared to make way for more homes and commercial space, so the need to record this progress will continue.