beswick street bridge – ancoats

Reg Gardner was born in Prestwich, Manchester in 1948 and spent his formative years in Ardwick. At the age of twelve he won his first art competition in the Manchester Evening News.

At the age of fourteen he won a scholarship to the high school of Art, Manchester. He continued to study art and to teach himself by observing the works of past masters in public galleries.
He exhibited first at the Colin Jellico Gallery, Manchester in 1969 and exhibited many times over the next thirty-five years. Most of his one-man shows have been ‘sell outs’. And his work features in private collections from St Petersburg to Bermuda.

Between 1973 and 1980 he exhibited in both one man and mixed shows at Stockport Art Gallery. Rivington Great House. Manchester Academy. The Watermill Gallery, Hampshire. Chenil Gallery, Kensington, London. The Barbican Theatre, London and the National Theatre London, which was opened by Sir lan Mckellen. He also provided work for the Cancer Research Charity Show, which was attended by David Hockney.

He has recently been described as having an amazing ability to depict urban landscapes in a warm impressionist style that cleverly evokes a feeling of nostalgia.