Skippings Gallery has been enjoying immense success with two highly-attended exhibitions since its re-launch in January 2016. The third exhibition of the year, running from Saturday April 9th to Saturday May 7th, will showcase the joyful, imaginative art of Audrey Pilkington who passed away in 2015.
Audrey was born in 1922 and attended the Lancaster School of Art, Storey Institute, aged 17 years old, where she was strongly influenced by the teacher, artist and poet, Ronald Grimshaw. She continued her studies at the Slade during the War years, meeting an interesting range of artists including the Vorticist, William Roberts.
Audrey’s early career evolved to include teaching, drawing for Vogue as well as illustration. It was later, whilst working at the King Alfred School in Germany that her painting career flourished with lively paintings in gouache and oils inspired by the enchanting Schleswig-Holstein lake country. She also began experimenting with collage, a technique she continued to explore throughout her career and which can be discerned in many aspects of her painting method. During this period, her work was exhibited in Hamburg to critical acclaim.
Audrey later exhibited widely in East Anglia, with solo shows in London, Italy and Switzerland, and most recently at the Cut in Halesworth in 2007.
The exhibition at Skippings Gallery will offer visitors an insight into the multifaceted nature of Audrey’s highly original and expressive work.