Exhibition celebrates industrial town's evolution

More than 100 artworks are being exhibited by an artist who eschewed London for the home town she has immortalised in emulsion.

Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery is hosting a retrospective exhibition of northern artist Helen Clapcott, who has painted the town for decades.

Entitled A Portrait of Stockport, it runs until 25 January and features pieces including The Power Station, The Last Carnival and Brinksway 1979, Before The Motorway.

One critic said of her work: "If LS Lowry first opened our eyes to the beauties of the industrial scene, Clapcott is chronicling its last chapter, the decay and fall of a great cityscape."

Clapcott's work ranges from images of the town's landmark viaduct to a floodlit football match at the home of Stockport County FC.

Stockport Council said her collection of sketches and paintings in the exhibition "record an evolution of a once great industrial town with its mills and renowned viaduct into a modern town fit for the 21st century."

The artist, who was born in Blackpool in1952, moved to Stockport as a child and is a post-graduate of the Royal Academy of Arts, with major exhibitions at Scolar Fine Art and the Osborne Samuel Gallery in London’s Mayfair.

However, she has remained loyal to her northern roots.

She said: "It’s 50 years since I sat by the side of the viaduct painting the mills, 40 years since the power station was untangled and demolished and 30 years since the motorway was completed.

"My home town, with its ever-changing topography is as inspiring today as it was when I first set out with a sketchbook.

"I’m delighted to have the opportunity to hold a retrospective exhibition of my work."

Councillor Frankie Singleton, the council's cabinet member for culture, said: “Helen is one of the most exciting artists in the region today and it’s very fitting that her paintings of Stockport will be on display at the War Memorial Art Gallery for local people to enjoy."

Despite being told she could earn more money in London, Clapcott once said she "didn't particularly like" the capital and preferred Stockport.

She is distinctive for being one of the few modern artists working with tempera - an egg-based emulsion.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to [email protected]