The power of illustration, from children’s books to advertising art

TWO EXHIBITIONS representing opposite ends of the artistic spectrum open today at The Civic in Barnsley.
The Civic's chief executive Helen Ball with 'Pirates Pants and Wellyphants, the illustrated world of Nick Sharratt.
Picture Scott MerryleesThe Civic's chief executive Helen Ball with 'Pirates Pants and Wellyphants, the illustrated world of Nick Sharratt.
Picture Scott Merrylees
The Civic's chief executive Helen Ball with 'Pirates Pants and Wellyphants, the illustrated world of Nick Sharratt. Picture Scott Merrylees

Original posters advertising art exhibitions across the world from the 1950s onwards, including those for exhibits by Miro and Picasso, are on display, while younger art lovers can get hands-on with an interactive display on the world of Nick Sharratt, the man behind the illustrations for Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker books.

The posters help document how the form was, and remains, an essential part of any marketing for an exhibition, regardless of how well-known the artist may be, while Pirates, Pants and Wellyphants, the Sharratt exhibition, includes the chance for children to try out a variety of drawing techniques.

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Exhibitions curator David Sinclair said: “Pirates has been designed with children specifically in mind. It‘s fantastic and such fun, but we thought it was important at the same time to have an exhibition which reflected the other end of the spectrum.”

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