A NEW exhibition in west Dorset by a human rights artist aims to to provoke debate about immigrants and refugees.

Ricky Romain's new exhibition, which is being launched in Bridport as the General Election draws nearer, presents people who have disappeared.

He has been given a grant by the Arts Council to stage the exhibition, 'Marking Injustice: A Painter’s Way of Coping'.

It is described as a 'major multi-media and democratic event addressing the political conflicts surrounding human rights issues and the demonising of refugees'.

Big white and black images of ghostly people have been painted especially for the Allsop Gallery at Bridport Arts Centre. They are the 'voiceless and the powerless' made to re-appear using the technique of sgraffito (scratching marks) through five layers of translucent white paint, ink and gesso.

Mr Romain said: "The statistics state how many people enter and leave the UK – but where do they go? What have they gone back to? These are real people, with aspirations, dreams and imaginations and talents and skills: and it’s never just one person’s life that's blanked out, it’s the potential of that person, the potential of their children, the well-being of their relations and their friends. There’s a whole chain of consequences."

Mr Romain's own ancestors were Jewish immigrants, brought to England from Gibraltar on HMS Victory in 1781. He grew up in a large extended Jewish family in the East End of London, and moved to the South West to be a painter nearly 40 years ago, now based in Axminster.

His pre-occupation with human rights began 15 years ago, and he has had solo exhibitions at Amnesty International in London, the chambers of leading human rights lawyers and the European Council of Human Rights Building in Strasbourg.

Accompanying his paintings will be assemblages created by his partner Heather Fallows from normally unseen fragments of his work, such as off-cuts from canvases and scraps of paper. A new film about his life and work called by Robert Golden, who lives near Bridport, will be premiered on May 5. Visitors will also be encouraged to add their own text and images to a handmade visitors’ book.

Heather Fallows, who is curating the exhibition, said: "We have freedom of speech but so few artists make use of that.

“With this exhibition we want to highlight questions of justice and democratic rights for all. That’s also why we want to get much more audience participation than normal in a visual arts exhibition. We are trying to show how painting is still a relevant and dynamic art form that can add insight to political debate.”

The exhibition runs from Saturday, April 18 to Saturday, May 30 at Bridport Arts Centre.