Gateshead artist Charlie Rogers dedicated most of his artistic life to recording the heritage of Tyneside through his paintings. He died in 2020, but left behind a body of work which can be seen in both a new exhibition and a book that is being launched this July.

Charlie Rogers (1930-2020) depicted all manner of Tyneside scenes, including buildings, industrial scenes and urban landscapes, that, over time, were steadily being lost to demolition and redevelopment – hence his quote that we’ve pulled out for this feature’s headline. His work has an immediacy and a vibrancy that speaks of someone who is steeped in the area, whether he’s capturing iconic buildings such as The Central Bar in Gateshead, or a simple back lane in Bensham (actually, ‘Bensham Back Lane’ is one of my favourite pieces by him. Other artists may have given this snowy scene a sludgy, kitchen sink feel. Not so Rogers. His back lane is teeming with sweet-shop colours which, nevertheless, don’t feel contrived). His work also gives us a social record of Tyneside over a sixty-year period, beginning during the 1960s and coming right up to the (nearly) present day. His paintings, drawings and sketches have been widely acknowledged of recognition alongside two of the north’s most celebrated artists – yep, I’m talking L.S. Lowry and Norman Cornish – and it’s fantastic news that a new book ‘Pursued By Bulldozers’ is being launched in July that will feature some of Rogers’ finest pieces. Naturally, nothing quite beats seeing these pieces in the flesh and you can do just that when an exhibition of his work comes to Gateshead Central Library this summer.

The book ‘Pursed By Bulldozers’ is launched on Saturday 12 July at Gateshead Central Library with a book-signing event from 10.30am-12.30pm. The ‘Pursued By Bulldozers’ exhibition runs at Gateshead Central Library from 12 July-27 September.