Dan KettlewellIn celebration of Yorkshire Day on 1 August, Victor J’s Art Bar in the city centre launched an art exhibition with more of a nod to all things Yorkshire than a grumpy man in a flat cap moaning about the cost of bread.
Local artist Sam Potts has decided showcase his dedication to Yorkshire in a month-long exhibition of his paintings portraying famous and influential Yorkshire folk.
Born in Harrogate, attending school in Ripon, college in Leeds and living in Northallerton, Sam Potts can perhaps be excused for completing his Fine Art Degree in Norwich.
His art however needs no excuse; specialising in portraiture the works have a certain style about them being half way between a portrait and a caricature.
Also needing no excuses is the main purpose of this venture. As well as celebrating our region’s best exports the sale of these paintings will also raise money for several charities and organisations.
Set to benefit are The Dickie Bird Foundation which helps to support underprivileged families in accessing sport and leisure, CoolTan arts who support those adults with mental health problems to access creative arts and The Wingate Institute who are a research centre for gastrointestinal science and research.
10 portraits will be on show and up for sale and include Dickie Bird himself, adopted Yorkshireman Janet Street Porter and Alan Titchmarsh.
Sam Potts hopes to show that there is more to Yorkshire than the stereotypical image often seen by those south of our border of a sleepy county full of whippets. He wants this exhibition, as well as raising money, to show Yorkshire as a perfect breeding ground for art and artists, creativity, and understated eccentricity.
In the words of Mr Bird himself “Yorkshire is a wonderful, wonderful place. The people are straight forward, tell you what they are thinking and there is never any messing around”.
Thanks to this event, we can now formally add ‘charitable’ and ‘proud’ to that analogy.
The exhibition runs from 1 – 31 August at Victor J’s on Finkle Street, just off St Sampson’s Square.
