Selected by the celebrated children’s author and illustrator, Quentin Blake, this fabulous exhibition features over 300 original artworks by 13 of Britain’s most accomplished and innovative illustrators in print today. Building on Britain’s celebrated history of book design and illustration, Magic Pencil shows how today’s illustrators reflect contemporary concerns with originality and force to establish a second golden age for British illustration.

Many of the artists included in the show are so familiar as to be almost household names  - Quentin Blake himself is the UK’s first Children’s Laureate, Raymond Briggs, Tony Ross, John Burningham and Michael Foreman. Others represent new and varied ways of approaching book illustration, such as the use of integrated TV and photographic collages by Lauren Child, the innovative layouts of Sara Fanelli using experimental type, handlettering and collage, and the sly but immaculate work of Posy Simmonds which marries formidable powers of social observation with cunning text.

Some of the illustrations deal with subjects not often considered the stuff of children's books. Michael Foreman's War Boy records the artist’s experiences of growing up in Suffolk during the Second World War and When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs is a visual parable against nuclear war, the story all the more powerful as a strip cartoon. Other work included demonstrates the sheer brilliance and technical skill of contemporary draughtsmanship: Quentin Blake’s exuberant illustrations; Stephen Biesty’s phenomenal cross-section drawings of warships, tanks and space shuttles; Angela Barrett - a latter-day pre-Raphaelite, uses a fine black pen to focus on body parts and sexual goings-on; Patrick Benson, a sharp-eyed naturalist, has a feeling for flight, feathers and strange birds.

Magic Pencil’s international tour opens at the Gemeentemuseum, Helmond, in The Netherlands in September 2003 and in 2004 tours to the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid in January and the Modern Art Gallery Bologna, Italy in April with further venues in Europe until 2005.

After the UK showings of Magic Pencil at The Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle and The British Library, London, we received requests from countries world-wide who were interested in hosting the exhibition, including the Lebanon, Romania, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Brazil and India.  This enthusiastic demand prompted the development of the facsimile print exhibition featuring 60 digital prints from original artworks featured in the main show.  This facsimile exhibition is available to order from Visual Arts and is accompanied by the film programme and book exhibition, elements that also form part of the main exhibition.  It is anticipated that the facsimile exhibition will be shown in over fifty countries between 2003 and 2005.

A lively education programme has been planned to support the international tour in collaboration with the British Library, Kingston University and the University of Surrey Roehampton. Magic Pencil offers a wonderful opportunity to explore art and literature, gaining understanding of how illustrators work and interpret ideas and to discover how this medium enables children of all cultures and communities to express themselves. The educational programme will be enhanced by a series of visits by artists featured in the exhibition and by education professionals from the UK.

Exhibition tour dates:

Further venues in Europe 2004/2005

			Modern Art Gallery Bologna, Italy		April 2004
			Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid		January 2004
			The Netherlands		September 2003
			British Library, London		1 November – 31 March 2003
			Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle		7 May – 15 September 2002

The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue: www.artpublications.britishcouncil.org, featuring an introductory essay on the exhibition. All orders should be directed to Cornerhouse Publications or your local arts bookshop.

For further information please contact Louise Wright.