Alan Hughes: Celebrating 55 years of print

Join us in celebrating the work of Hereford-based artist Alan Hughes. 

Alan's work is abstract in nature and responds to the physical world, exploring the familiar and often mundane ephemera of modern life. Alan has always returned to Printmaking as a means of informing his wider practice and pursuing new areas of interest.

This body of work represents over 55 years of print exploration up until the present day. Alan has exhibited nationally and internationally has works in public collections at the Victoria Gallery and Museum in Liverpool and the Williamson Art Gallery Birkenhead.

Hughes has lived and worked in Hereford since 1998, retiring from HCA as Assistant Principal in October 2011.

We are delighted to welcome Alan back for an exhibition celebrating multi-disciplinary imagery and print in the lead up to HCA's Festival of Print and Illustration, CMYK.

With a love for printmaking that first emerged as a Fine Art student at Leicester Polytechnic in the late-60s, and that has punctuated a career that has seen his work held in private and public collections throughout the world, artist Alan Hughes is bringing a selection of key printed works to HCA for a month-long exhibition at College Road.

The close of the exhibition coincides with the college's own festival of print and illustration, CMYK, on 16 May.

Alan Hughes is a British artist who has lived and worked in Hereford since 1998.

The focus of his practice is abstract in nature and is a response to the physical world, through the exploration of the familiar and often mundane ephemera of modern life.  

Born in Birkenhead in 1951, Alan studied at the Laird School of Art (1967 to 1969) and Leicester Polytechnic (1969 to 1972), where he gained a first class honours degree in Fine Art.  In 1973, he was awarded a Postgraduate Teaching Certificate in Art & Design, from the University of Sussex.  In 2002, he gained an M.A. in Fine Art from the Cardiff School of Art and Design, University of Wales.

Alan has exhibited extensively in the UK, in both group and solo shows, including the Roundhouse gallery, London.  His work is held in private collections in Norway, France, Italy, UK and the USA.  Public collections include University of Liverpool, University of Leicester, Williamson Art Gallery Birkenhead and Granada Television, Manchester.  He has received awards and grants from Merseyside Arts and North West Arts.

Alan was employed for 38 years in Further Education, in Art & Design, retiring as Assistant Principal of Hereford College of Arts in October 2011.

Following his retirement, Alan was awarded a Print residency at HCA, as part of the Artists' Access to Art Colleges scheme (AA2A), which resulted in a substantial new body of work, which was exhibited at HCA in May 2012.

Alan became a founder member of the Artsite 3 studio collective in 2008, where he continued his practice in a variety of forms, until its forced closure in June 2025.  Since then, he maintains a studio at the Apple Store Gallery (ASG).