FOR the second year running, the Zillah Bell Gallery is the northern host of the Society of Wood Engravers’ annual exhibition which comes to Thirsk from the Bankside Gallery in London.

It consists of about 140 pictures by 90 artists selected from thousands of entries from all over the world.

Prize for best newcomer in the past 12 months was awarded to Jonathan Ashworth, a regular exhibitor in Thirsk.

It is a truly stunning exhibition which shows that representing the world in, for the most part black and white, is not the same thing as seeing it in such stark terms.

Here, the finest modulations in monochrome achieved through mastery of technique heighten the visual experience of a whole range of subjects, from nature to fantasy, abstracts to portraits.

This is an art form which makes one look, rather than feel, though the show is not without touching and thought-provoking images.

Among much to enjoy, seek out Colin See-Paynton’s hares and owls animated in intricate patterns and varying textures; Abigail Rover’s exquisite colourtinged studies of alpine flowers; an imagined demonic upsurge from Chris Wornell’s opened Pandora’s Box.

Neil Bousfield’s A Load of Old Cameras, which won the Rachel Reckitt open prize, is a tour de force in meticulous observation, each tiny example in a packed grid different from its neighbours.

Ben Goodman’s Maxwell 2 is a troubling portrait of a child already bearing the careworn expression of adults. In Safe Hands is Chris Pig’s chilling comment on children at the mercy of priestly care.

The exhibition continues until March 29.