NUCA BA (Hons) Illustration Lecture Notes BRITISH ILLUSTRATION FROM THE SEVENTIES TO THE PRESENT

A BIT ABOUT THE PAST

In the decades following the Second World War, the design and publishing industries in this country expanded at a remarkable rate. The austerity of the war years was followed by an increasing confidence, so that by the mid-Fifties, in the wake of the Festival of Britain and the coronation of the present Queen, the stage was set for that explosion of activity in the media that characterized the Sixties. Along with music, cinema and TV, advertising and publishing became omnipresent in peoples lives, and the status and rle of the illustrator broadened accordingly. Traditionally, illustrators had worked largely in publishing (both books and the press), but they began to occupy a much wider rle within the media, producing imagery for the burgeoning music industry, packaging, advertising, TV and other clients. In addition to these new outlets, existing ones (e.g. childrens books, the subject of a separate lecture) continued to flourish, as parents experiencing new-found prosperity began to indulge the generation of children which would include the illustrators of the Seventies and Eighties. While much British illustration from the mid-20th Century remains attractive and powerful (see: Eric Fraser; Edward Bawden; Mervyn Peake; Charles Keeping et al), most work was basically figurative and the rle of the mainstream illustrator was often subservient to author, editor, ad agency and client. It took a new generation of illustrators, emerging from British colleges from the mid-Seventies onwards, to bring in those aspects of personal interpretation which turned Illustration into a much more artist-led activity, and which helped to establish the Illustration courses like this one which flourished throughout the 80s and 90s, and into the present decade. Prior to, roughly, 1980, there were only a few Illustration courses in the U.K.; by the end of that decade hardly an art school or university in the country was without one. You, therefore, are a part of this continuum, and as such you should know something about it! Arguably, the single most important group of illustrators in this process emerged from Londons Royal College of Art in the mid/late 70s, and early 80s. Abstraction, neo-expressionist drawing, political ideas, surface texture, and work-processes which previously had not played a significant part in mainstream Illustration, were suddenly included in a new definition of Illustration which delighted some, irritated others, and bore a distinct resemblance to events happening in

rock music at the same time (i.e. Punk Rock). This period forms a convenient starting point for this lecture Key figures, whose work forms a starting point for this lecture, were Sue Coe, politically very left-wing and much influenced by German Expressionism; Stewart Mackinnon, Terry Dowling and Russell Mills, probably the most influential illustrators of the last 20 years in relation to ideas of abstraction and surface; Ian Pollock, initially, at least, an even more savage successor to Gerald Scarfe and Ralph Steadman; Janet Woolley, still extremely successful today; and Chle Cheese, whose delicate crayon, pastel and ink drawings provided a refreshing (but equally personal) antidote to the toughness of Coe or Pollock. Other influential RCA graduates George Hardie, Robin Harris, Robert Mason, Liz Pyle, Anne Howeson, Paul Slater, Carolyn Gowdy et al, continue to work as illustrators and/or teachers, and this group influenced subsequent illustrators in this lecture, like Matthew Richardson, Russell Cobb, Andrew Foster, Chris Gibbs and Sara Fanelli, as well as Canadian and American illustrators like Anita Kunz, the late Richard Parent, Jonathon Rosen, Marshal Arisman and Matt Mahurin, whose work you will see in a subsequent presentation. From outside of the RCA, Peter Till, Lynda Gray, Jonathan Gibbs, Andrzej Klimowski, David Hughes, George Snow and Jeff Fisher all established themselves as highly individual and consistent illustrators during the 80s, at a time when, arguably, the quantity of illustration being commissioned began to outweigh the quality. Ideas, whether related to editorial text or a design brief, played and continue to play a vital part in all these illustrators work; it could be said that the illustrators rle has been re-defined as one of interpreting ideas, just as much as describing events in a representational way. In common with many other areas of the arts, conceptual aspects have become as important as literal considerations. The ideas and methods established by these illustrators have been consolidated and developed through the 90s and into this century by such artists as: Marion Deuchars www.mariondeuchars.com Frazer Hudson www.frazerhudson.com Ian Whadcock www.ianwhadcock.com Matthew Richardson www.matthewxrichardson.com Simon Pemberton www.simonpemberton.com Noma Bar www.markbattypublisher.com 2

Jonny Hannah www.castorandpollux.co.uk/cakesnadalepress/index.html Laura Carlin www.heartagency.com/html/carlin_Frameset.html Belle Mellor www.bellemellor.com Daniel Pudles www.danielpudles.co.uk Demetrios Psillos www.demetriospsillos.com David Foldvari www.davidfoldvari.co.uk Geoff Grandfield www.geoffgrandfield.co.uk And, quite literally, thousands of others Illustration agencies like Heart, Monster, Eastwing and CIA continue to promote innovative work across a wide variety of outlets, using just as wide a range of hands-on and digital techniques. During this period possibly the two most important aspects of contemporary Illustration have been the influence of digital media, and, latterly, the rise of the illustrators group or collective. Some of these, like Le Gun, Peepshow, and nous vous offer a different approach to traditional Illustration practice, providing collective creative thinking and making as well as that offered by the individual illustrator. They have also contributed to an increase in self-publishing (as exemplified by the tireless Mark Pawson www.mpawson.demon.co.uk ) both in physical and digital forms, a phenomenon that is connected with the growth of postgraduate courses for illustrators (RCA, Falmouth, Brighton, Central St Martins, Kingston etc.) All of this (and much more) will form the basis of discussion during the course here, and play a crucial part in the research aspects of your studio and Contextual Studies work. It is essential that you check out these illustrators (and others) through the internet, bookshops and the media: if you dont do this, how can we discuss the subject? And how can you arrive at a clear idea about where your work stands, in relation to what is already going on?