Joe Tilson, RA (British b. 1928)
For over forty years, Joe Tilson has been making and exhibiting constructions, reliefs, prints and multiples: works of great individuality, evocativeness, richness of meaning, and dazzling visual superb impact in terms of colour, texture and structure
Tilson studied first at the St Martin's School of Art, 1949 - 52 and continued at the Royal College of Art, 1952-55, where he won the Knapping and Rome Prizes. He travelled extensively in Italy and Spain, which marked an influence on his early work.
His one man show was held at the New London Gallery in 1961, the 1960s seeing the burgeoning of his international exhibiting career. After winning the Gulbenkian Foundation Prize in 1960, Tilson exhibited in the Paris Biennale and Carnegie International Exhibition, in Pittsburgh, in 1961 and had the first of his several appearances at Venice Biennale in 1964. Subsequently a retrospective exhibition was held at the Boyman's Museum in Belgium and Italy. Another retrospective of his work was staged at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1979.
He became associated with the Royal College generation of Pop Artists, but was always prepared to experiment with novel subjects, sometimes stemming from his eclectic reading and materials.
Elected Royal Academician in 1991.
Awards
1957, John Moores Liverpool Exhibition prize
1960, Gulbenkian Foundation
1963, San Marino Biennale
1965, VI Exposition Internationale de Gravure, Ljubljana
1967, John Moores Liverpool Exhibition prize; VI Exposition Internationale de Gravure, Ljubljana
Public collections include
Art Council of Great Britain, London
Boymans - van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam
Gulbenkian Foundation, London
Johannesburg Art Gallery
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
Museum of Modern Art, New York
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Peter Stuyvesant Foundation, London
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Tate, London
Ulster Museum, Belfast
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
Walker Art Gallery, Minneapolis
Solo Exhibitions
1962, Marlborough New London Gallery, London
1963, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; University Art Gallery, Nottingham; Ferens Art Gallery, Hull; Hatton Gallery, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
1964, XXXII Biennale di Venzia, Venice, Italy; Marlborough New London Gallery, London
1965, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Kunstamt Reinickendorf, Berlin; Museen der Stadt, Recklinghausen
1966, Malborough New London Gallery, London; Malborough Graphics Gallery, New York, USA
1967, Galleria Il Navaglio, Milan; Galleria del Deposito, Genova; Galeria Flori, Montecatini; Marlborough Gerson Gallery, New York; Marlborough Graphics Gallery, New York
1968, Galleria Ferrari, Verona, Italy; Galerie Brusberg, Hannover, Germany; Galleria de' Foscherari, Bologna
1970, Malborough New London Gallery, London; Haus am Waldsee, Berlin
1972, Abrams Gallery, Amsterdam; Galerie Rene Block, Berlin
1973/74, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1974, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp; Galerie Von Loeper, Hamburg
1974/75, Univerista' di Parma, Parma
1975, Studio Marconi, Milan; Malborough Galleria d' Arte, Rome; Galleria del Cavallino, Venezia
1976, Galerie Espace, Amsterdam; Il Chiodo, mantua; Il Tritone, Biella; Marlborough Fine Art, London; Galeria Krzysztofory, Kracow; Galleria Corsini, Intra
1977, Galleria Rizzardi, Milan; Galleria La Chiocciola, Padua; Galleria A, Parma; Galerie Von Loeper, Hamburg
1978, Waddington & Tooth Galleries, London; Tate Gallery, London
1979, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada; Waddington Galleries, London
1981, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA; Schneebach Gallery, Cincinnati, USA; Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, Canada; Il Chiodo, Mantuva, Italy; Il Sole, Bolzano, Italy; Impressions Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
1982, Galerie Kammer, Hamburg, Germany; Joseph Wolpe Gallery, Cape Town touring to Natalie Knight Gallery, Johannesburg; Studio Marconi, Milan, Italy; Waddington Galleries, London
1984, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol; Galleria Nazzari, Parma, Italy
1987, Ljubljana Print Biennale, Ljubljana, Slovenia; Thorden Gallery, Gothenburg, Sweden
1988, Waddington Galleries, London; Waddington Graphics, London; Galerie Wansink, Roermond, Netherlands
1990, Fortezza Medicea, Cortona, Tuscany, Italy; Centro Culturale Fontanella Borghese, Rome, Italy
1992, Waddington Galleries, London
1993, Hete A Hunermann Galerie GmbH, Dusseldorf, Germany
1995, Alan Cristea Gallery, London; Theo Waddington Fine Art, London
1998, Conjunctions Theo Waddington Fine Art, London
1999, Castello Doria, Porto Venere, Italy; Conjunctions Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy
2000, Galleria Comunale d'Arte in Cesena, Italy; Amedeo Modigliani , Civica Pinacoteca, Follonica, Italy
2002, Retrospective at the Royal Academy, London; New Paintings Beaux Arts, London; Greek and Italian Imagery, Alan Cristea Gallery, London; Conjunctions Menhir Arte Contemporanea, La Spezia, Italy
2006, Eye on Europe, MOMA, New York, USA; Menhir Arte Contemporanea, La Spezia, Italy
Palazzo Doria, Loano, Italy
2007, Waddington Gallery, London
2008, Sculture in Vetro, Bugno Gallery, Venice, Italy
2009, Alan Cristea Gallery, London; Opere Recenti, Laboratorio di Arte Grafica, Modena, Italy
2010, Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2011, Biblioteca Marciana, for the Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy; Constructions, Palazzo Magnani, Bologna, Spain; Print Retrospective, Correggio Museum, Bologna, Spain