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Horace Panter: The Beano 80th Birthday Collection opens in Harrogate

By John Freeman on November 1, 2018

Minnie the Minx by Horace Panter

An exhibition of Horace Panter‘s Beano-inspired pop art opens in Harrogate later this month, at the RedHouse Originals Gallery.

2018 marks the 80th birthday of legendary comic The Beano and to celebrate, Beano Studios invited Horace Panter to produce a new collection based around its famous characters.

Previously on display in York (read our news item here), these exciting new artworks place Dennis the Menace, Gnasher, Minnie the Minx and others into re-imagined Pop Art paintings, inspired by historic works by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and David Hockney.

Minnie the Minx appears as a Warhol starlet, Lord Snooty as an iconic character in the style of a Roy Lichtenstein painting and Dennis and Gnasher making mischief in Hockney’s LA swimming pool.

The exhibition opened at Beano Studios London, before a short tour of the UK, culminating in a special event at RedHouse Originals in November.

Horace – who graduated in 1975 with a degree in Fine Art from Lanchester Polytechnic, now Coventry University – is best known as the bassist for 2Tone ska legends The Specials, but has been exhibiting his art in the UK since 2008.

His influences are diverse and range from the Pop Art paraphernalia of artists such as Peter Blake, Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana to the depictions of light in paintings by Edward Hopper and David Hockney. His ‘Americana’ series falls into the latter category; his reimagines the ubiquitous signs/diners in American cities as iconographic cultural symbols. Ultimately, he says that these works “are about painting light”.

• Horace Panter’s The Beano Goes Pop Art (#BeanoGoesPopArt) 16th November – 16th December 2018 | RedHouse Originals Gallery, RedHouse Originals Gallery, 15 Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, HG1 1DW. Web: www.redhouseoriginals.com | To attend the launch party or for further details please contact the gallery here

Horace Panter is online at www.horacepanterart.com | Find Horace Panter on Facebook | Follow Horace on Twitter @horacepanterart or Instagram @horacepanterart

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.