Next up at the Mining Art Gallery in Bishop Auckland is an exhibition of Ted Holloway’s paintings and drawings reflecting his journey from miner to art teacher to professional artist.
Eighty years ago Ted became a ‘Bevin Boy’, one of the young men conscripted to work as miners by Ernest Bevin, wartime Minister for Labour.
He went underground at Craghead Colliery, County Durham, and in 1954 returned to work as a driver at the Busty Pit, Medomsley.
At that time he enrolled as a student at Sunderland College of Art and became an art teacher, ultimately retiring in 1981 to paint full time.
The exhibition, Ted Holloway: A Bevin Boy Remembered, opens on Saturday, October 19.
Key works will include Miners’ Head No 2 (1958), with boot polish used to depict a group of miners, and The Bevin Boys (1964), showing a group of apprehensive young men entering the mines.
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Anne Sutherland, Mining Art & Industrial Heritage Curator at the Mining Art Gallery, said: “Ted Holloway’s deeply personal connection to the mines of County Durham means the artwork displayed in this exhibition is even more poignant and meaningful.
“This collection spans the course of Ted’s life and includes an array of works using different techniques and capturing true moments in the mines and in its surrounding community.”
Tickets to the exhibition are included in admission for the Mining Art Gallery To book, visit www.aucklandproject.org.