The Opening

Yesterday the show in York opened at the According to McGee Gallery, opposite Clifford's Tower. It was a good day - or rather afternoon - with a steady stream of visitors, a good number of sales of Dave's work, much appreciation, old and new friends, and a lovely and informal atmosphere.  

The gallery is small, but with work of this quality, well displayed (though I say it myself), and with a variety of vibrant paintings, it looked fabulous. After spending a few days here, hanging the work and walking to and from the car park, it has become one of my favourite areas of the city too. Very close to the riverside, the wonderful Tower on its mound overlooking the gallery, the museum and the little park almost next door, it's a very pleasant district of York, removed from the busier centre even though it's only a couple of minutes walk away. So it's well worth making the trip to see our little show and making a day of it by exploring the neighbourhood and eating in one of the small and reasonably priced eateries that are in the same row of old shops as the gallery. 

To finish, details of three of Dave's paintings that can be found in 'Dave Pearson: Colourist':

York!

The past couple of days I've been in York hanging the 'Dave Pearson: Colourist' exhibition at the According to McGee Gallery. Above is the eponymous Mr McGee, Greg, in his front gallery with the three large oil paintings that dominate the room. I have to say that I'm very pleased with the hanging - it's a small gallery but we were able to include 25 pieces, including a handful that are large oils. It looks very good, and I'm especially grateful to Graham Breakwell who helped me on Monday, travelling up to York from Shrewsbury by train, and who made such an enormous difference to the hang.  

'Dave Pearson: Colourist'  opens this coming Saturday at 1pm. Everyone, of course, will be welcomed. The gallery is at 8 Tower St, York, North Yorkshire YO1 9SA.

Visitors and...fame

This week I've spent a fair few hours at Dave's old studio in Haslingden - some of them to do with preparing work to take to York for the exhibition, but also giving the studio a much needed airing and clean-up, plus meeting visitors and showing people around. It's seems appropriate, given that Spring is now unequivocally in the air, that things are clearly stirring at 54 Manchester Road and that there's still great interest in Dave and his work. 

Florian and Robin visited yesterday. They both live in Berlin, but Florian was a student on the Foundation Course at Manchester Poly (now MMU) and knew Dave as a teacher. He has bought a number of Dave's pieces in the past and visits the studio whenever he is back in the UK. Yesterday he and Robin bought several more small examples of Dave's work - the photo was taken in the room Ella uses for cataloguing. 

Today in our local newspaper - the Rossendale Free Press - there's a full-page feature on 'Who is Rossendale's most famous person?'. with a list of people including the actress Jane Horrocks, model Agyness Deyn and comedian/actor Ted Robbins. It also includes Dave Pearson which, even if representing nothing else, is surely a marker of the success we have had in keeping Dave's name and work in the public eye.