ISSN 2044-2653 Howard Jacobson issue // David Inshaw RWA // Alberto Giacometti Ken Howard Sir Christopher Frayling 03 Howard Jacobson: Flesh David // Alberto In the Studio BackChat 2010 Winter 03 Winter 2010 03 Winter Inshaw RWA Giacometti // Ken Howard // Sir // Rural Christopher Dreamer Frayling £4 Contributors What a pot pourri of delights awaits the reader of this, our third issue of ART. Repressed sex is the subject // Richard Storey took a BA // Jodie Inkson’s obsession with // Simon Baker is an RWA of Simon Baker’s illuminating Honours degree in Drama from typography began at school when Trustee and a solicitor on the interview with Man Booker Bristol University (2006). He worked she painstakingly hand cut every cusp of celebrating 40 years in for the Bristol Evening Post for letter of a project. Climbing the practice. An avid enthusiast of prize winning novelist, Howard 12 years and is author of Perfect design ranks in London, she formed the visual arts since discovering Jacobson, who celebrates the way Persuasion. He is a former Board Wire Sky in 2003, winning awards that books with “pictures and Victorian artists depicted the member of Bristol Arts Centre and a position in Who’s Who. She conversations” were the best, and Travelling Light Theatre sees her beloved modernist chairs he is too much of an impulse frustration of non-consummation Company. as art, not sure whether she prefers buyer to qualify as a collector. in their shockingly fleshy sitting on them or looking at them. paintings. Alberto Giacometti’s stick- like sculptures are well known. Less well known is the story of his life-long association with the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul // Jilly Cobbe has a degree in Fine // Peter Ford is Vice President // Francis Greenacre was Curator de-Vence. Adrien Maeght shares Art Drawing and is a practicing of the RWA. He has travelled widely of Fine Art at Bristol Museum with us memories of his teenage artist living near Stroud. She has to art events and exhibitions and Art Gallery from 1969 to a life-long fascination with the where his etchings, woodcuts 1997. Together with Douglas years, living and working among history of art, especially the artist and paperworks have been shown. Merritt he has just completed some of the most seminal artists behind the art. Since 2004 he has organised five Public Sculpture of Bristol which of the post-war years. exhibitions for the RWA including will be published by Liverpool the 2009 Open Print Exhibition University Press January 2011. Signs of regeneration are in and ‘Celebrating Paper’ in Francis Greenacre’s sights. Shop January 2010. signs, that is. Once a visual aid to the illiterate in late medieval and eighteenth century shopping streets, gloriously eccentric metal signs are now creeping back onto Bristol’s streets. Go seek them out. // Cliff Hanley was born in // Alice Hendy studied Fine Art // Ali Heywood works as a David Inshaw RWA is one Glasgow, where he studied at at Exeter College, learning to use costumier and theatre designer of Britain’s best recognised Glasgow School of Art. He later photography to capture ideas and and is passionate about the value took up design and writing document her work at Kingston of the Arts to bring about change, artists, highly regarded for the as a sideline to a career in music. University, where she studied particularly for young people. powerful intensity of his English Gave up guitar session work in Sculpture. Alice has always Ali is a founding member of landscapes. Tristan Pollard met London to return to painting loved cameras – her current beau Stand+Stare Collective who create and more recently, writing. is a Canon D500; it makes her interactive and immersive theatre rural dreamer Inshaw to explore heart sing. performances. what it is that informs Inshaw’s elemental, brooding and highly charged images. As if this isn’t enough, we round off with equally revealing meetings with surreal photographer, Hannah Starkey; // Michael Liversidge was // Hugh Mooney is an art // Kate Morgan is the RWA master of the studio nude, Ken Head of History of Art and photographer and recently studied Exhibitions Manager. After Howard; and some pithy BackChat Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Fine Art at the University of the completing a History degree from Sir Christopher Frayling. Bristol University. He co-curated West of England. A physicist by and an MA at the University of ‘Canaletto and England’ for profession, he spent 30 years Bristol, she has worked in the Birmingham City Art Gallery in the aerospace industry prior cultural sector for the last ten and ‘Imagining Rome: to retiring in 1998. A camera years. Beginning in the world British Artists and Rome is his constant companion. of museums, she moved into the in the Nineteenth Century’ realm of visual arts six years ago. for Bristol City Art Gallery. Richard Storey Managing Editor // Tristan Pollard is a Senior // Nicky Stone is a ceramicist // Sheila Yeger has written Front-of-House Assistant at the based in Falmouth. She makes extensively for stage, radio and RWA where he has worked for ‘exquisite female figures’ from television. She is at present in twelve years. He studied Fine Art porcelain clay using her own the second year of the Diploma in to Foundation level and has also body as a reference. The figures Art and Design at Queens Road, worked for the civil service and are celebratory and refer to Bristol. When not writing plays Bristol Museum. A keen writer ancient archetypal depictions of or making Art, she can be found and occasional artist, he lives in Goddesses and Queens. Nicky is wild swimming, or dancing the Bristol with his wife and son. a mother of sons and sometimes Argentinian Tango. a teacher. art Summer 2010 1 Inside Cover Detail from David Inshaw’s Goldfinches 2003/4 oil on canvas 91 x 91cm. EDITORIAL Publisher Editorial, Contributors 1 Royal West of England Academy Managing Editor Richard Storey Exhibitions 4 & 5 Art Director Jodie Inkson – Wire Sky Editorial contributors Diary – events, lectures, workshops, tours 6 & 7 Simon Baker, Jilly Cobbe, Peter Ford, Francis Greenacre, Cliff Hanley, Ali Heywood, RWA news 9 Michael Liversidge, Hugh Mooney, Tristan Pollard, Gregory Reitschlin, Nicky Stone, Sheila Yeger Academicians’ news 12 Specialist photography Alice Hendy Flesh: eroticism, prudery & British art 16 RWA news Kate Morgan Simon Baker meets novelist Howard Jacobson to discuss [email protected] his programme, Flesh, made for the Channel 4 series: Academicians’ news Louise Holt ‘The Genius of British Art’. [email protected] Friends of the RWA news [email protected] Rural Dreamer: David Inshaw RWA 21 Tristan Pollard and photographer Alice Hendy visit Academician David Inshaw at his Wiltshire studio ADVERTISING Anouk Mercier for this exclusive interview. t: 0117 973 5129 e: [email protected] Leza Jagroop Signs of Regeneration 26 e: [email protected] Francis Greenacre celebrates the return of Bristol’s t: 07770 888 456 three dimensional shop signs. COPY DEADLINE Giacometti and the Fondation Maeght 30 Spring 2011 issue: 28 January Adrien Maeght remembers his post-war upbringing among the Surrealists. FRIENDS OF THE RWA Friends annual subscriptions Single £25 Portrait of the Artist: In search of Gwen John 34 Joint £36 Writer Sheila Yeger re-visits her play Self Portrait, Individual life £375 Joint life £500 about the life and times of Gwen John. Student £13 Country single £20 Country joint £30 Close-up: Hannah Starkey 36 See membership application form Hugh Mooney interviews one of Britain’s most influential page 43 artist-photographers of contemporary life. Royal West of England Academy, Inside the artist’s studio: Ken Howard OBE RA RWA 38 Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1PX t: 0117 973 5129 Richard Storey and photographer Alice Hendy visit Ken Howard, General enquiries e: [email protected] “last of the Impressionists”, at his London studio. Magazine e: [email protected] Registered Charity No 1107149 Friends of the RWA notes and news 41 The opinions in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Letters, Reviews 44 & 45 Royal West of England Academy. All reasonable attempts have been made to clear copyright before publication. Listings 47 To read an electronic version of ART, BackChat: Sir Christopher Frayling 48 or to visit the RWA online: www.rwa.org.uk Follow us on Facebook and twitter.com/rwabristol ART is printed by WPG on sustainably sourced FSC certified paper using vegetable inks. www.wpg-group.com art Winter 2010 3 Exhibitions Matisse: Inside-Out Open Association of Sebastian Smith Selected But Drawing Sharples, Winterstoke Photography 2 Contemporary Bringing it all Back Home Hung Later with Scissors and Stancomb Wills Main Galleries Jewellery Methuen and Milner City 16 January – 15 February Galleries 5 February – 2 March Free of charge; all works for sale Galleries 20 February – 5 April Free of charge 8 January – 8 February 26 November – 24 December The standard of work submitted 8 January – 6 February After its success in 2008, Free of charge Ex Bristol artist working in to the Friends Annual Exhibition Inside-Out: a cross discipline the RWA Open Photography Provence returns after 14 years was high and the selectors The French painter, sculptor exhibition from Jamaica Street returns this spring. With over ACJ Bristol and invited guests with a new series of abstractions – Anne Hicks RWA, Peter Swan and designer, Henri Matisse Artists highlighting their 400 photographs on display by return to the RWA with a selected that continue to deal with his RWA and Patrick Daw RWA – (1869-1954) was one of the 20th vibrancy and diversity.