Having exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition over the last few years, the pieces of work they choose in selection invariabley lean towards abstraction. As an art student Sim’s influences were both broad and strong ranging from Vermeer’s spacial interiors, British Vorticism and Art Deco to Henry Moore’s endless variation into the human figure and the Pop-Art artists Sir Peter Blake and Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. This has lead to his freedom to experiment and design with popular imagery. One is abler to see these influences resonating in his work today especially in his prints whereby he includes figurative photo elements using photo-silk-screen. These elements alongside his geometric colours and shapes may potentially be described as 3-D forms creating very uique challenging and beautiful images.

‘Transmetropolitan’
Mixed media on board

Looking at a Whelan painting is like looking at a stained glass window, through the eyes of Bart Simpson

Steve Martin, writer and critic

Transmetropolitan was such a hit with young students, that the museum has produced a documentary, which will be premiered 7 May. This will be the second documentary that features the painting. The first is being finalized in Philadelphia, where the painting was shown as part of The Quiet Men - London Irish Painters exhibition (see RASA article of August 16 2010 below).

City Heights
Mixed media on board

Contact Curator Emma Roodhouse emma.roodhouse@colchester.gov.uk for information about the current exhibition, the film and the auction.
Ipswich Museum
Art School Gallery
1 Upper High St.
Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 3QH

29th January – 11th  June 2011
Hours: Tues – Saturday
10:00am – 17:00pm

www.brianwhelan.co.uk

Wendy Roseberry
Roseberry Crest
The Stables, Hanworth Hall
Hanworth
Norfolk, NR11 7HP

* We need a news letter editor; this position could be shared between two people. At present we try to produce an annual, colour magazine but one or two simple news sheets a year would be better than nothing.

* Our regional groups are beginning to flourish providing exhibition opportunities and the chance to fraternize with other ex- grads. At present the South East of England although being particularly fertile with alumni and replete with golden opportunities for forming associated regional groups, is under represented. We need a coordinator for this area; please contact us if you are interested.

* Come to the next regional meeting on 2nd July to find out how we work and whether you feel you want to get involved, you will be most welcome.

* If you have skills to offer do contact us; working on the council can be exciting but it does require a certain amount of commitment  and team work. Having an idea is inspiring but you need to be able to think it through and put it into practice with the help and support of other council members.

You can leave messages on 020 7300 5715 or

E-mail Gloria.Steemsonne@royalacademy.org.uk

Photographs by Beth Evans:  www.bethevans.com

This Thursday (March 10th), nineteen Year Five children from Brunswick Park Primary School in Peckham were given an exclusive tour of the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly. Facilitated by arts organisation Young Visions and funded by the Excellence in Cities initiative working  with the Royal Academy Schools and the Education Department, the experience gave the children a unique introduction to one of the UK’s most prestigious artistic institutions.

First, they were greeted by Professor Maurice Cockrill, Keeper of the Royal Academy and taken on a guided tour of the current exhibition by two students. Then they were shown around the Schools in the basement of the Academy where they observed the current postgraduate students hard at work in the studios. Professor Cockrill said: “I hope this visit will widen the children’s horizons both as young art critics and young artists. By welcoming them to the Royal Academy we are showing that we value them. These young children are our potential audience, students and artists of the future. We want to give them something memorable that can act as a source of inspiration.”

The group was also granted special entry into the iconic Life Room, unchanged from its inception in the eighteenth century and normally only accessible to students of the Academy. Sitting where celebrated artists such as Turner and Constable would have done, the nine and ten year olds took part in a life-drawing workshop run by Phillippa Clayden, director of Young Visions and chair of the Royal Academy’s alumni association (RASA), along with Licy Clayden, Young Visions co-director and tutor. The children were given expert tuition on drawing a dressed life-model using unusual techniques such as using a pencil in each hand. Morgan said ‘I love learning new ways to draw. I really enjoyed looking at the art too’ and Tom said ‘I liked drawing the silhouettes and making them 3D. I’m going to bring my family here and tell them that I made art in the Life Room- I’ll even bring my children when I’m older!’

The work they produced will be exhibited in the Schools for current RA students to admire, and will later be taken back to their school and exhibited. It was an extraordinary art lesson where the children not only learned valuable technical skills, but also gained an impression of the entire process of being artist.

This project is part of Phillippa Clayden’s work with Young Visions, an organisation she founded 28 years ago which is dedicated to bringing unique visual arts teaching methods to young people of all backgrounds and abilities in Southwark. Her recent work has involved bringing the UK’s prestigious arts institutions into creative collaboration with Southwark primary schools.

In delivering ‘Peckham meets Piccadilly’, Clayden has given children access to the high profile world of the making of art, and helped them to be confident within it, and in their own abilities to contribute to it. The art co-ordinator at Brunswick Park School and one of the accompanying teachers, Mahnaz Kamran commented; ‘This visit has been wonderful. The children might not have been comfortable in an arts environment before, they may even have felt excluded from it, but the Royal Academy has really welcomed them and shown them how much they can enjoy looking at art and making art. They have gained lots of confidence from the event and I’m sure they will be keen to visit exhibitions and get involved in arts projects in the future.’

While the obvious learners in the project are the children, Phillippa and Licy are both keen to recognise the reciprocity of the learning experience, and they thank the children of Brunswick Park Primary for their influence on the Royal Academy. Phillippa says:  ‘It’s great to see the children in the Schools bringing their new perspectives and fresh ideas. The RA Schools initially started because a group of artists thought more people should be given the opportunity to create. It’s events like these that remind everyone of the founding principles of the Royal Academy.’ Inspired by its teachings while she was a student, she has taken the methods and ethos of the Academy out into the community and, in turn, brought the community back to the Schools. In that sense, she says ‘“Peckham meets Piccadilly” has come full circle’.

Remmel: ‘I love being here, I love to draw!’
Remell Williams age 9

Weblinks

:http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/

http://www.brunswickpark.southwark.sch.uk/

http://www.phillippaclayden.co.uk/

http://www.licyclayden.co.uk/
Media enquiries: Julia Brosnan 07870 306867, julia@dovetailtogether.co.uk
and Cathy Wilcock 07846628669, cathywilcock@gmail.com
www.dovetailtogether.co.uk

www.towerhamlets.gov.uk

 Pauline  died at home aged 94, after an independent active life, as a talented: Artist, Writer, Poet, Skier, Dancer & Campaigner. Funeral Mass at the Church of Our Lady, Queen of Heaven, 4a Inverness Place, Queensway, London, W2 3JF, 6th January at 1200 noon, followed by interment at St. Mary’s R. C. Cemetery, Kensal Green, London. John Nodes, Funeral Services 020 8969 1819
The Church is nearly opposite Bayswater Underground Stn.
and a short walk from Queensway Underground Stn along Queensway (road).
Only “family” + Godchild, are expected to go to the burial (interment).
But of course, others can go, but on their own, no transport arranged..
Unfortunately those going will not expect to get back to the reception for 1.5 hours - in good weather.
The reception will be announced at the Funeral, it is a very short distance away from the church