Retrospective to mark centenary of mining artist

20 hours ago

News image — Tom McGuinness (right) at the pithead of his colliery in Bishop Auckland in 1977

Trinity Mirror A black and white photograph of a group of men with hard hats on and in worn, dirty clothes. McGuinness stands on the right talking to another man. He has brown hair with large sideburns. — Tom McGuinness (right) at the pithead of his colliery in Bishop Auckland in 1977

A retrospective exhibition marking the centenary of the birth of a miner-turned-artist has opened in his hometown.

Tom McGuinness: Out of the Darkness features oil paintings, sketches, lithographs and personal family portraits spanning more than half a century and will be on display until December at the Mining Art Gallery in Bishop Auckland.

Born in 1926, the artist was one of the Bevin Boys conscripted to work in coal mines during World War Two. He died in 2006.

Anne Sutherland, mining art and industrial heritage curator at The Auckland Project, said his art was a "powerful reminder" of miners' resilience.

McGuiness' daughter, Corrine Aspel helped to curate the retrospective alongside The Auckland Project which she said allowed her to rediscover some of her dad's work.

He was a member of the Spennymoor Settlement, a mid-century arts centre which encouraged a better understanding of the arts within the County Durham mining community.

Sutherland said the mining gallery, which opened in 2017, would not exist without his work.

"His art remains a powerful reminder of the resilience and identity of mining communities across the North East," she said.

Estate of Tom McGuinness A black and white portrait painting of a man playing a saxophone. He is standing in the street among terraced houses and there is a black cat sitting on the street next to him. There is a group of three men further down the street in flat caps. — Tom McGuinness, Cool Blues, 1988

The exhibition features themed displays which will rotate throughout the year.

From February to June portraits will be showcased, followed by Durham Miners' Gala scenes in July.

Works on display include unseen drawings from sketchbooks and personal portraits of family members, including Aspel captured at 18.

Aspel said: "I think as a family we were just really thrilled to be able to showcase a really large selection of his work.

"It's nice that there's lots of different pieces of dad's work in the exhibition, not just the mining art that people are very familiar with.

"People won't have seen that side of my dad's work before."

Estate of Tom McGuinness A painting of a miner underground, sitting on a stool and holding a pickaxe in his long, skinny arms. The painting is quite surreal and has a blue-tone to it. — Tom McGuinness, The Hewer, 1980s

Aspel said she and Sutherland got to look back through McGuiness' sketchbooks and she was often "surprised" by things she had not seen before.

"I think it's a great celebration of his talent," she added.

Bob McManners, co-founder of the Gemini Collection of Mining Art, said McGuinness "worked for 39 years in the mines, painting daily what then seemed an indestructible industry".

"In his latter years he went on to graphically illustrate the social consequences of the aftermath of the demise of the coal industry," he said.

"His work is his autobiography."

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