Jonathan Polkest
I make and design installations, two-dimensional artworks and objects. I paint, construct, fabricate and formulate finishes, work is often gallery based, sometimes community based in the public realm or part of a performance/ritual.
I have accepted commissions to create artworks and produce scenographic objects and scenic art. I have worked in many theatrical and display workshops as well as upholding a frequent schedule of exhibiting. This can call for experiment with different media, with applications and approaches both digital and analogue.
I maintain a studio practice.
My artwork and practice evolved from a fascination with painting, drawing comics, renderings, illustrations and technical drawing influenced also by the art emerging from St. Ives at that time and from an inherent desire to transform objects through the process of ornament and decoration.
Initially attending art school in Cornwall and later M.A. fine art University of London, working in Design and particularly construction/ making for Theatre and Performance and any collaborative crafts that arise in such situations. Scenic sculpting, moulding.
I devised and ran several painting/ designing courses at RADA and Goldsmiths College. Drawing continues to form the instigatory element of my practice embracing diverse ranges of process acquired through related developments, these can include photographic techniques, painting, textiles, paper-cutting and sculptural projects, design for performance.
Theatre Set Design: http://theatricalia.com/person/291s/jonathan-polkest
The Draw Me/ Tedna Ve portraiture installation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC3zmJkWptM This installation for portraiture is a feature of my work that I continue to exhibit and operate in community art based situations, in schools, galleries and art centers.
A large part of my practice is connected with teaching, research, residency and support in educational or work-shop situations, I appreciate the stimulus of dialogue that creative exchange generates. Drawing is often presented as a primary activity because of its lack of technical parameters, in its most advanced form drawing can be anything and as a tool or an attitude it is most effective.
Collections Jack Larson Collection, New York, USA Bolitho Estate Collection, Cornwall, UK
Public realm
2016 Tempting Failure Festival - curated by Thomas John Bacon - Live Portrait Drawing and Walking Drawing Workshops at Hackney and Croydon.
2016 - Draw Me in the Mall Galleries The Mall London SW1
2016 - #cam4Art - Live Art Broadcast - Dissenters Gallery 391 Ladbroke Grove, London W10 5AA.
2016 - Draw to Perform - Curated by Ram Samocha London W10 6RP
2016 - The 2016 ING Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, Westminster
2016 - S.T.E.A.M. Portrait Drawing at Lichfield Big Draw Festival - Three Spires Centre.
2015 Draw Me Selfie Sessions - Bethlem Museum of the Mind London BR3 3BX
2014 – Mr Hornimans Curious Tea Party – Trinity Laban Horniman Museum and Gardens, London. Silhouette portraits.
2014 – Passport To Pimlico – The Chelsea Collective created by Lana Locke, Churchill Gardens Estate. Drawing Pimlico Passport Portraits.
2013 – Tate Britain – Urban Encounters: Urban Materialities, Platform 7 with Tedna Ve / Draw Me camera obscura interaction, Tate Britain Clore Gallery, London.
2013 – InTransit RBKC –Draw Me in Dovehouse Green, Kings Road London
2011 - Portrait of a Community - The Big Draw- Kestle Barton Gallery & Rural Centre, Manaccan, Helston, Cornwall TR12 6HU
2010 - ART 75, sponsored by feast/Cornwall Council, Jubilee Pool, Battery Rocks Penzance Harbour, Cornwall
2009 - Draw Me/Tedna Ve at Arnold Circus, Arnold Circus Shoreditch London E2,
Qualifications and training
2001 - MA, Fine Art, University of East London
1973 - Foundation Art, DipAD, Society of Industrial Designers, Redruth School of Art, Cornwall.
CIEH Health & Safety in the workplace Level 2
BECTU Creative Industries Safety Passport.
Millinery & Hat making
Costume for Performance
DBS Enhanced Disclosure Certification.
ABTT – Mask Making, Props & Lighting
Solo exhibitions
2012 - Finnisterre an exhibition of works by Jonathan Polkest, Morvah Schoolhouse Gallery, Morvah, Penzance Cornwall TR20 8YT
2011 - Matter, Moonbowjakes Margate, 18 Cliff Terrace, Margate
2011 - Non Fiction, Ripley Art Centre - Bromley Arts Council, 24 Sundridge Avenue Bromley London BR1 2PX
2011- Votive Drawings by Jonathan Polkest, Ripley Art Centre, Bromley
2010 - Draw Me Paris:London:Frome with David Partner photographer, Rook Lane Arts, Rook Lane Chapel, Bath Street, Frome, Somerset, Frome
2008 - PUB ROCK DISCO – with Draw Me at The Thatched House, Hammersmith
2008 - PUB ROCK JAZZ, The Thatched House Hammersmith, Hammersmith
2007 - Cornish Guilt by Jonathan Polkest, Moonbow Jakes Gallery, Brockley
2005 - Hevelepter Pymp (5), The Sliced White Gallery, Bread Street, Penzance, Cornwall 2004 - Jonathan Polkest String Paintings, Moonbow Jakes Gallery, 285 Brockley Road, Brockley, South London, UK
2004 - Tedna Ve (Draw Me) the big draw, SLG South London Gallery, Peckham Road, Camberwell, South London, UK
2003 - Among the Stones, The Mineral Gallery CSM, School of Mines, Exeter University, Redruth, Cornwall
2001 - Votive Drawings, Gallery 73, Brighton
Group exhibitions
2016 - The 2016 ING Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, Westminster London
· {C}2014 – The Walking Encyclopedia – Gothvos - AirSpace Gallery, (object theatre walking) Stoke on Trent, ST1 4HL (The Gothvos Project continues as a Blog).
· {C}2012 – Brocade & Beyond, The Beetroot Tree Gallery South Street Draycott, DE72 Derby
· {C}Sketch 2011, Rabley Drawing Centre,www.rableydrawingcentre.com, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 2LW
· {C}2011 - The Sketchbook Project (things that changed other things), Brooklyn Art House Co-Op touring statewide. New York - then touring.
2010 - Bawning The Thorn on St.Peters Day in the Parade Ground, Chelsea College of Art and Design, Millbank, London.
2010 - Inspired by Morris Exhibition.The William Morris Gallery, London.
2010 - Lines & Strata Drawing, Denbigh Library Gallery, Denbigh
2010 - TEFAF on Paper - Maastricht Arts 2010, Maastricht Exhibition & Congress Centre, 6229 GV Maastricht
2010 - The Origin of Colour - A Fabric of the Land initiative. University of Aberdeen School of Geosciences, Aberdeen
2009 - Canterbury Art Fair 09, The University for the Creative Arts. Canterbury
2009 - Endings and Beginnings Exhibition, Projeto Gallery Silsden, Keighley
2009 - SOFA CHICAGO 2009 innovation and tradition in textile art, SOFA Festival Halls, Navy Pier, Chicago IL. USA
2008 - Black Swan Open Arts Exhibition, The Black Swan Arts Guild, Frome
2008 - New Cross Art Prize, Lewisham Art House Gallery, 140 Lewisham Way, London 2007 - Anonyme Zeichner No.5, Blutenweiss - Raum fer Kunst, Prenzlauer Allee 224, (Ecke Knaackstrasse), Berlin
2007 - Canterbury Festival Art Fair, University College for the Creative Arts, Canterbury 2007 - MTD Gothvos, University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor. USA.
2007 - Signals 5 Club Chaos Arts Festival, Westow House, 79 Westow Hill,, Crystal Palace 2007 - The 2007 ING Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, Westminster
2007 - The Opposite of Winter, Candid Arts Trust, Angel Islington
2007 - The Thelma Hulbert Exhibition, Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton
2007 - What Haunts You by Helen Marshall, The Photographers Gallery, London
2007 - Wunderkammer at Bluecoat Gallery, Blue Coat Display Centre, Bluecoat Chambers, College Lane, Liverpool, Liverpool
2006 - Music on the Mount, St.Michaels Mount, Marazion, Cornwall
2006 - Shoreline Threads, Artists Harbour Gallery, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth
2006 - The Islington Contemporary Art Fair 2006, Candid Galleries, 3 Torrens Street, Islington, London, UK
2005 - Bird 2005, Beijing Jialuan Art House, Changqing Art Fund, Beijing Natural Culture Centre, Beijing, P.R.China
2005 - Hevelepter Pymp (5), Sliced White Gallery, Bread Street, Penzance, Cornwall
2005 - The Dead Inventive, Locations within the Bath Fringe Festival, Bristol and Bath, UK 2005 - The Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, The Mall, London
2004 - Aqua di Colori, The Landscape of Jack Clemo, Infra City Galleri Kunst, Infracity, Upplands Vaseby, Stockholm, Sweden
2002 - A6 Show, Lewisham Art House Gallery, London
2002 - Be Mine - A Photographic Exhibition , C-Venues + 2 Adam House. , Chambers St. Edinburgh, Scotland
2002 - Draw -Me (Tedna-Vi), Blackswan Arts Trust, Frome, Somerset
2002 - The Big Draw - installation, Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall
2001 - Hevelepter 2001, Mariners Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall
2001 - In Progress, Greengate Gallery, Plaistow, East London
2000 - Blush, 40 Underwood Street, Hoxton, London
2000 - Hevelepter 2000, Chapel Street, Penzance, Cornwall
1998 - Four at the Steam Pottery, Steam Pottery Gallery, The Steam Pottery, Pendeen, Cornwall
1997 - Animal Spirits, The Artists Gallery, 37a Alexandra Street, Hunters Hill, Sydney, Australia
1997 - Curious Objects and Animals, CSM Mineral Collection Exeter University, Trevanson House, Cornwall College Campus, Poole, Redruth, Cornwall
1994 - Drawings in Silverpoint, Coffs Harbour Civic Centre, Coffs Harbour, Rigby House, New South Wales, Australia
Curated projects
2008 - Anonyme Zeichner No9, Eroffnung der Kunstaktion, Kunstraum Kreuzberg, Krutzberg, Berlin
2007 - Spectrum Art Auction for Autism, Headland Hotel, Newquay Live/Performance
2011 - Tedna Ve/ Draw Me in Margate, Moonbow Jakes at 18 The Cliff, Margate
2010 - Draw Me/Tedna Ve at Arnold Circus Sharing Picnic 100:Artists Fair, Arnold Circus Artists Fair:100, Tower Hamlets
2009 - Sick of Love. Goldsmiths College Student Performance Production. The Rosemary Branch Theatre, London N1, ISLINGTON, London (scenographic design & make).
2007 - Draw Me/ Tedna Ve in London, Moonbowjakes Gallery Bar, Brockley
2007 - Moving Parts;Laal Shaari performed by Amina Khayyam, MAC,Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, B12 9QH & The Arts Depot, 5 Nether Str,London N12 OGA, Birmingham and London
Intervention
2011 - Portraits of a Community - The Big Draw, Kestle Barton: Rural Centre for Contemporary Arts, Manaccan, Helston
2011 – Co-Devise and construct Thanatoscope with Mischa Twitchin
2009 - Draw Me/ Tedna Ve in Hay on Wye, The Hay Literary Festival - Hay Cinema Bookshop, Castle St., Hay on Wye
2005 - Museums Arts Day - Tedna Ve Costumed Portraits, Penlee Gallery and House, Morrab Road, Penzance, Cornwall
2002 – Finisterre site specific Installation – pinhole photography and action – St.Levan Chapel Cove, Cornwall
Workshops
2016 Walking Drawing and Making - Hackney Showroom and Matthews Yard Croydon for Tempting Failure Festival of Live and Performing Arts.
2014- Paper Cutting Techniques – Workshop – Bluecoat Art Gallery, Liverpool
2011 – Papercutting Workshop – Kestlebarton Gallery and Rural Centre.
2008 – Pinhole Camera and Camera Obscura Workshop – Hitchen Girls School, Hertfordshire -
2007 - The Theatre of Pinhole Photography, Buile Hill High School, Salford
2004 - Royal Cornwall Museum Truro Big Draw, The Royal Cornwall Museum, River Street, Truro,Cornwall
2006 – Figure Drawing for Costume Design – Goldsmiths College. PACE, London
1994 – Project Manager : Craft Studio design Paddington Sydney Australia
Private commissions
1997 - Drawings of MacBeth in Rehearsal, Bristol Old Vic and Coopers Gallery, King Street, Bristol. & On Tour Nationally
Educational experience & awards –
2013 Jerwood Drawing Prize – Casper N – Bankside London and national U.K. tour.
2001 Awarded Northbrook College Drawing Award BAW, Mall Galleries, London
Tertiary 2000 - Visiting Tutor, Camberwell School of Art, London
1994 - TAFE – Drawing Skills & Techniques, Northern Sydney Institute, Australia
1992 - Director of Course, Set Design, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
1987 - Head of Scenic Design, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
1986 - Visiting Tutor, Theatre Arts, Performance Design, Scenography Department, Goldsmiths College
Educational experience.
2010 - Tedna Ve / Draw Me at Greenside Arts Festival, (SLD, SEN & PMLD) Greenside School, Shephall Green, Stevenage, Hertfordshire SG2 9XS
Other
2010 – Thanatoscope – with Mischa Twitchin – devise construct - http://vimeo.com/106268914
2007 - Art 07 Kendal, (Arts Council N.E.) Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, Kendal
2007 - Draw Me (Tedna Ve) SFX Festival portrait making installation. Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. U.K.
2004 – Production Design – Vladeck – White Bear Theatre, London.
1996 Sydney Theatre Company – Scenic Artist/Design Assistant – STC Sydney Australia
1988 – ICA Theatre – Set Design and Construction – The Lords and Ladies of Little Egypt.
1986 Royal Academy of Dramatic Art – Head of Scenic Design, Director of Technical Summer-school in Set and Costume Design – 2004.
1982 – Scenic Artist and Sculptor – Welsh National Opera, Cardiff Wales.
Project manage/ Scenics: Opera North, English National Opera at Coliseum, National Theatre.