Colin SelfColin Self (b. 1941) came to prominence with the Pop art scene of the 1960s. He is now recognised as an important and innovative artist, with at the last count some 76 pieces in the TATE Collection.
Self was born in Norwich. He attended the Slade School from 1961 to 1963. At this time, he got to know David Hockney and Peter Blake, who began to collect his work. By 1964 he was showing at the cutting edge Robert Fraser Gallery, and by 1968 was producing technically groundbreaking prints with Editions Alecto. However, his engagement with Cold War politics and the nuclear threat gave his work a sinister mood and political edge that was distinct from the mainstream of Pop art.
Self returned to live in Norwich in 1965. He looked to the Norwich landscape school and to the native poet John Clare for models of production more congenial to him than the London-based market-led scene. Technically, Self continued to experiment and innovate, in sculpture, printmaking and drawing. In PRELUDE TO 1,000 TEMPORARY OBJECTS OF OUR TIME (1971), for example, he sprayed around a female body arranged directly on the etching plate. For the 'Circus' series of the 1990s, he drew 'blind' into the interiors spaces of household boxes and cartons. In 1986, the ICA in London mounted a solo exhibition of Colin Self's work, named by the artist 'Colin Self's Colin Selfs', in imitation of the recent blockbuster 'Picasso's Picassos'. In 1995, the Tate Gallery displayed its extensive holdings of the artist's work as a solo exhibition. In 2004, Colin Self's stature was evident in the important pieces selected for Tate's 'Art of the 60s' exhibition.
Since March 2000, Colin has returned to etching, on a new series of multiple plate etchings which form an extended, open - ended series, The Odyssey/Iliad Suite. Revisiting a technique he developed almost 40 years earlier they are made 'from my own life experience, printed from the sea of detritus found by me on a different odyssey.'
Please contact the gallery as we usually have a good selection of Colin's work available to view. |
