Robert Richardson
Melton Mowbray
I work across a range of media: concrete poetry/typography; photography, installations and video installations. Recently, I have been producing graphic artworks using digital media.
Concepts My early work has been exhibited as 'Textology: an exhibition of text-based art'. It is a meeting point for typography, concrete poetry, minimalism and conceptualism. It is also an interface between fine art and graphic design. Much of this work was first available in the multiple print format of the postcard, and I was published by Leeds Postcards, and one of my designs is included in Artists' Postcards: A Compendium (by Jeremy Cooper, Reaktion Books, 2012). My two-dimensional work also encompasses colour photographs. This has become a large part of my practice, and my on-going exhibitions include 'Bright Side Up' (fairs, markets and show grounds) and 'French Windows' (different parts of France). I have also put together an exhibition of photographs taken in Rome, and these were exhibited, in 2014, at the University of Cambridge. Another project is to acquire images from many different European countries. My three-dimensional work consists of installations, video installations and live art events. There is predominantly conceptual work, such as 'Censorship Communications', 'An Abstract For All Libraries' and 'My Life In A Bag', while other work realises “retro pop”: an approach to pop art also using the contemporary media of installations and video installations. This work tries to be colourful, accessible and entertaining, but as with Duchamp and Fluxus, it is also challenging. The work is thematically wide-ranging; but there is an emphasis on resistance to political, social and environmental repression. There is also an affirmation and celebration of freedom, creativity, playfulness and humour. Influences Influences on my work are eclectic, and include constructivism, minimalism, conceptualism, pop art, concrete poetry and post-modernism. The work is experimental, and sometimes political, satirical and humorous. Career Path One of my grandfathers was a commercial poster/ticket writer. My childhood included entering rooms and seeing small painted signs spread out and drying. These encounters with language as a physical and environmental reality were internalised, and they must be as much an influence on my work as subsequent knowledge and experience of concrete poetry and movements in art. In my teens and early 20s, I worked more as a poet and small press publisher. This led to an interest in typography and, ultimately, visual arts in general. I completed a BA in Communication Design at North East London Polytechnic. After graduating, I gained a CertEd in Further Education, and worked for 10 years in that sector. During this time, I also helped to run an arts workshop for adults with special needs. For 18 years, after being awarded an MEd, I worked first as a Senior and subsequently a Principal Lecturer at a new university. My main job was to help run an academic guidance centre, but I also taught visual communication to Humanities students. I now work full time on visual art and writing. For most of the 1980s, I did not exhibit; although in 1989 I did appear in 'Word as Image' at the Australian National Gallery (alongside such leading twentieth century artists as Picasso, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg etc). Since the middle of the 1990s, I have been exhibiting quite widely and producing new work, and in the last ten years I have been concentrating on photography, although recently I have been using digital media to produce abstract artworks. In the future, some of these will become limited edition prints.
Solo exhibitions 2018 - Luz Brilhante: Fotografias Do Algarve E Da Inglaterra (Bright Light: Photographs from Algarve and England), Museu Municipal, Faro, Portugal 2014 - TextSpace, Kunsthaus Rehau, Germany 2014 - Romeinaround, University of Cambridge 2012 - Bright Side Up, East Midlands Airport, 2012 - Bright Side Up , Cumberland Lodge, The Great Park, Windsor 2011 - Bright Side Up & French Windows, University Centre, Milton Keynes 2010 - French Windows, Trinity House, De Montfort University, Leicester 2007 - French Windows, De Montfort Hall (offsite exhibition of The City Gallery), Leicester 2007 - Toanfloat (with the composer Shekhar Raj Dhain), Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT), De Montfort University, Leicester 2005 - Bright Side Up, De Montfort University, Leicester 2004 - Bright Side Up, De Montfort Hall, Leicester 2003 - An Abstract for All Libraries, Barbican Library, London 2003 - People Picking, Broadway Cinema, Nottingham 2003 - Three Pieces Under Glass, De Montfort University, Leicester 2002 - Textology, De Montfort University, Leicester 2002 - The Low Life Series, City Gallery on Tour, various venues, Leicester 2001 - Letters of Invitation, De Montfort University, Leicester 2001 - The Low Life Series, East Midlands Arts, Loughborough 2001 - The Low Life Series, Phoenix Arts, Leicester 2000 - Retro Pop Photography, Waterstone's, Leeds 2000 - The Low Life Series and other photographs, De Montfort University, Leicester 1999 - Solo Repartee, Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery 1998 - Inside Broadcasts, Arbor Darkrooms and Gallery, Derby 1998 - Letters of Invitation, The Poetry Café, London 1997 - An Abstract for All Libraries, North West Arts Board, Liverpool 1997 - Textology, Broadway Media Centre, Nottingham 1996 - Censorship Communications, Liver Building, Liverpool 1996 - Textology, The Mary Ward Centre, London
Group exhibitions 2016 - Media Art Fair, Contemporary Art Ruhr, Essen, Germany 2016 - Gastspiel, Galerie am Färberbach, Steinbach am der Steyr, Austria 2015 - The International Exhibirion, Douanehuisje, Maassluis, The Netherlands 2015 - Wish You Were Here/, MAC, Birmingham 2014 - Wish You Were Here?, The Atkinson, Southport 2014 - The Postcard is a Public Work of Art, X Marks the Bökship, London 2013 - Annual Photographic Competition Exhibition, Lauderdale House, London, 2012 - Annual Photographic Competition Exhibition, Lauderdale House, London 2012 - The Artists' Postcard Show, Spike Island, Bristol 2011 - Annual Photographic Competition Exhibition, Lauderdale House, London 2011 - Concept as Concrete Form: Visual Poetry, Texts and Typography, School of Arts, Design and Technology, University of Derby 2009 - Annual Photographic Competition Exhibition, Lauderdale House, London 2006 - Snapping Little Britain, Orleans House Gallery, Twickenham 2005 - HypeGallery, Les Rencontres d'Arles festival, Exhibition on the Internet 2005 - The Art of Words, Fairfields Arts Centre, Basingstoke 2004 - Virtual Collect, Waterstone's Bookshop, Nottingham 2002 - Bathos, Space Station Sixty Five, London 2000 - Parklife, Melton Mowbray 2000 - Ram Raid Festival, Derby 1999 - Directory, Q Gallery, Derby 1998 - Rethinking the Avant Garde, Phoenix Arts, Leicester 1996 - Conflict, The Coventry Gallery, London 1992 - The Beauty in Breathing, The Convention Center, Miami Beach 1990 - Word As Image, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne 1989 - Word As Image, The Australian National Gallery, Canberra 1988 - Air Mail, Air Gallery, London 1988 - Air Mail, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield 1986 - Three Person Show, Louth Area Arts, Lincolnshire
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