Life after Art School
Finlay Taylor, the wonderful Head of Printmaking, gave a brief talk drawing on his considerable experience of curating shows. Plenty of anecdotes with great slides showing exhibitions in which he’d been involved. His winning combination of all things lepidoptery and all things printmaking appeals to me at all levels and it was a great lesson in expanding possibilities for me to see examples of his work and hear how he had made them.
Finlay Taylor View, screen printed cover with xerox fold out print with pencil addition, 2008
His top three tips?
- work with people you admire
- get artists to respond to a text – gives a focus
- commission something e.g. a book
He was followed by Rebecca Fortnum on Residencies and workshops
She has a great track record of residencies and working in a wide range of ways in different contexts, which she describes as providing opportunities to change your world perspective, to develop an audience for your work, and provide contexts for experimentation.
Her visiting fellowship at Plymouth University (Exeter Art School) 1989-90 she described as a useful transition – she was teaching but ex faculty and not a student either.
Pick of the bunch was her 9 week residency at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine USA (1991) where she wanted to work with Brice Marden. She worked in the National Gallery in Botswana. She was also awarded the Helen Chadwick Fellowship in Rome and Oxford, been an artist-in-residence at Triangle in Marseille,
done a 3 month residency at the British School in Rome (1997) on the Abbey Award in Painting for mid-career artists… and there were others, including artist-in-residence at La Joya
Her advice is to do your homework – find out what’s out there because despite everything, there IS funding, and she provided a useful list of emails and contacts. Top Tip? check with other artists about the residency – it may not be quite what it seems!
Artworks and actions 