If you’ve ever visited Judy Stevens’ Open House at 6 Clifton Street, then you’ll be familiar with the work of Jonny Hannah. His screenprints, linocuts and quirky painted cut-outs on board, mostly featuring colourful hand-lettered text or a quotation linked to his many interests (jazz, country music, seafaring) are instantly recognizable, and his illustrations are increasingly seen on the covers of paperback books. An exhibition of his new work has just gone on show in a new gallery in Lewes, The Tom Paine Printing Press Gallery, on the High Street, right opposite Bull House, where Tom Paine lived and worked, and next to Pipe Passage. Entitled ‘An Illuminating Exhibition of New Work from the Legendary Jonny Hannah’, it does what it says on the poster. But there’s more – behind the wooden printing press is an alcove museum of Jonny’s collected ephemera and jokey constructions, of imaginary books for example, that will delight his fans. And some very reasonably priced hand-printed cards far too nice to give away that would look fabulous framed. The exhibition continues until the end of February.

The Press Gallery is the brainchild of artist/writer Peter Chasseaud and artist/printmaker Carolyn Trant, and it moved here from the Market Tower, Market Street, last December. This is only the second exhibition. It all revolves around a replica 18th century Common Press, used to print letterpress/woodcut artists’ books and other ephemera. Their first exhibition was of prints and artist’s books by the Russian artist Dmitry Sayenko, from St Petersburg.

http://www.tompainepress.blogspot.com/

http://carolyntrantparvenu.blogspot.com/