Star date: 29th May 2017

PAINTINGS OF SALFORD PEOPLE FEATURE LARGE IN CORNERSTONE EXHIBITION

Looking Back: The Paintings of Philip Wescott
Until mid-June
Langworthy Cornerstone

Phillip Westcott is one of the city's foremost artists, specialising in capturing people in places like Salford Precinct. This latest exhibition at the Langworthy Cornerstone also shows Westcott's versatility - and canvasses are selling at bargain prices of between £20 and £50, as Pete Fisher discovers.

Full preview here...

Friday afternoon. Late May (the month that is not Theresa). Langworthy Cornerstone is nice and cool, and a welcome escape from the 28 degree heatwave outside. The building is fairly quiet, a stretching yoga class has just finished and a slow procession of people are visiting their GP.

No smiling welcome from Sharon on reception this time, but my first meeting with receptionist 'Salford Dave'. He explains that he was also an artist - the self described 'artist in residence'. He had to be 'Salford Dave' because on Facebook he too many mates called Dave; Brummie Dave; Irish Dave; Scottish Dave and Scouse Dave – there's got to be a joke hiding in there somewhere. Apparently I had reviewed Salford Dave's artwork previously and had said he was 'original' and 'unique'. I was delighted that he was happy with my labels as I don't like upsetting people and also it was just too hot to fight.

I am in the Cornerstone to stroll round an exhibition of works by Phil Westcott, Salford artist extraordinaire – Lowry, Riley, Westcott….the Salford Trinity…well, that's what he thinks!

Phil has won dozens of prestigious awards including the Harold Riley Award in 1983. He has exhibited across the country but mainly in the North West where his haunting urban landscapes and figurative drawings are widely appreciated. He has also exhibited several times in California, particularly in Palo Alto, the home of Google, PayPal and Hewlett-Packard. Westcott has also featured in many publications such as House and Garden; Art and Artists; City Life and Derbyshire Life, as well as the Salford Star.

Maybe it's the upcoming election, the dementia tax and the debate about social care and the NHS, but I was immediately drawn to two paintings. 'Home help' is a poignant, desperately sad acrylic painting of an agitated elderly lady in bed; she is being comforted by her carer. Westcott is clearly a social realist, an artist interested in portraying life here in Salford, warts and all.

There is also a pencil drawing of another stooped, aged lady attempting to reach her destination with her walking aid. What other artist would portray such sad, tragic figures? I don't know of any. Perhaps these portraits should be donated to hang in the Cabinet Office in Downing Street or on the corridor outside the Salford Council chamber to remind those in power of the hardships endured by so many old people in this city and this country.

On these subjects Phil likes to quote LS Lowry whose work he occasionally mirrors... "Some of the most difficult pictures to like are of solitary figures" he explains "I feel more strongly about these people than I ever did about the industrial scenes. They are real people, sad people. I'm attracted to sadness and there are some very sad things. I feel like them."

Indeed, while in this exhibition Phil shows his versatility as an artist, he's most accomplished when painting people who are pensive, tired, bored or argumentative. He spent the 1980s and early 1990s painting portraits of people in Salford Precinct and also in the Manchester Arndale. Some of these studies are on display here, on sale at a bargain basement price of around £20.

"My interest in figures was established in my local shopping centre in Salford" says Phil "Here I found access to a variety of figures in relaxed poses. My early studies concentrated on groups of seated figures engaged in casual conversation. My immediate concern was for the intimacy of the group rather than the environment they were in. Later the architecture featured more boldly within the composition and there was a stronger sense of symmetry and geometry of the interior."

"I started painting in the early Seventies, capturing scenes of Salford as the old terraced houses were being demolished, mainly around Seedley and Weaste" he adds.

Phil Westcott has recently moved on to produce large oil canvases of landscapes, predominantly woodland scenes but here at Langworthy Cornerhouse are a wide range of his figurative work around Salford and Eccles; café scenes and groups of people in shopping environments. 

At least eight of the works on display are already marked with sold stickers, which shows the popularity of Westcott paintings. He's slashed his prices for this exhibition, with all works selling for between £20 and £50.

'Poolside Games' is an acrylic painting which maybe a parody of David Hockney's early work. Westcott is asking £40 whereas a similar Hockney would sell for hundreds of thousands if not a couple of million. Some wise collector has snapped up an almost photographic, lifelike portrait of a mature John Lennon for £20, which must be the bargain of the show. But there's plenty more...

So on a hot day in early June head down to Langworthy, meet Sharon or Salford Dave on reception, enjoy a cuppa in the Chimney Pots Café, and experience the variety and realism of Phil Westcott's art.

Looking Back
The Paintings of Philip Wescott
Until mid-June
Langworthy Cornerstone
451 Liverpool Street
Corner of Liverpool Street and Langworthy Road
Phone 212 4400 to check opening times

See also Philip Wescott's website for more information – click here

Words and photos by Pete Fisher