Bank Street Gallery
pete dredge
Regular visitors to Bank Street Gallery will be familiar with Pete Dredge’s work. He was one of the contributing cartoonists at the Gallery’s celebration of Private Eye’s 50th birthday in 2011. We are delighted to host his one man show!
A city boy, he grew up in Nottingham on Eagle comics. Fascinated by the visual world, he was particularly influenced by illustrators and cartoonists such as Bellamy, Hampson, Thelwell, Bishop and others. In the early 60s, delay in the barber’s shop of the Black Boy Hotel for the requisite short back and sides of the day, introduced Dredge to Punch Magazine. Art College and an apprenticeship as a graphic designer led to freelance success almost immediately. In the 70s his very first attempt to become a published cartoonist for Punch was successful. He has since also graced the pages of that classic and yet equally prescient oracle, Private Eye, Mayfair, Penthouse, TES, Men Only, Radio Times and National Lampoon. Imagine his euphoria when, in 1980, he hit the cover of Punch for the first time.
Dredge is a great observer of life. This skill – and it is a skill – has led to his success in comedy writing too (Do you remember “Not the Nine O’clock News”?)
Here we have his perfect combo: visual impact with a sparing but judicious use of words. Think of an everyday scene or comment – Dredge does this with such lateral vision that he is tickling your ribs before you have even managed to move away from the first image. For aspiring cartoonists, his work is worth examination. He can create noise, speed, conflict, passion, indeed almost every emotion, from a well placed line. To the untrained eye, it looks easy. That is his gift. Come along and try it!
Make sure you give yourself a little time to wander around the Gallery. Every cartoon will bring a smile if not an outright guffaw. Find your favourite and please note it in our visitors book!
show runs from friday 5th may 2017 to friday 16th june 2017