The mother of George Campbell, Bowen took up painting shortly before her seventieth birthday, using materials belonging to her son, Arthur. In 1955 the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts - the forerunner of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland - organised her first solo exhibition.
“Rhythm and movement are the characteristics of her work...and whatever she paints conveys a feeling of happiness, of brightness, of delight in life” - The Times 29th December 1955.
Other solo
exhibitions followed in Belfast and Dublin between the 1960s and 1980s. She ignored conventional linear perspective in favour of horizontal arrangements reminiscent of medieval manuscripts and tapestries. She tended not to mix her colours, taking them straight from the tube and drawing directly with the brush. Her subject was everyday life, enhanced by childhood memory. No time for introspection here; her subjects are living life rather than contemplating it.’
Gretta Bowen featured in the exhibition of her son, 'George Campbell and the Belfast Boys' (2015). Please click here for a link to the catalogue.
Bowen also featured in 'Irish Women Artists: 1870-1970' exhibition (2014). Please click here for a link to the catalogue.
Bowen also featured in 'Gerard Dillon: Art and Friendships' (2013). Please click here for a link to the catalogue.
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