John Blackburn

• biography
• works
• essays
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biography

Born

Luton, Bedfordshire 2.6.32

Educated

St Gregory’s School, Luton

Thanet School of Art 1947-50

Maidenhead School of Art 1950-52

National Service Royal Air Force, 1952-54

Lived in New Zealand and The Pacific Islands, 1954-62
Has lived in Canterbury and London since 1962

Elected Member of Society of Industrial Artists

Is married with three children and sevengrandchildren

Short-listed for The Gregory Fellowship in Painting at University of Leeds

Completed 3,400 Mile Charity Walk around coast of England, Scotland and Wales

Has taught at Thanet School of Art and Canterbury College of Technology

Creation of Manufacturing Company in 1979, Canterbury Bears

Elected Fellow of The Chartered Society of Designers, 1994

Elected Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, 1994

One Man and Group Exhibitions (1960-1980)

• Circle Gallery,Auckland, New Zealand
• Woodstock Gallery, London
• Arnolfini Gallery, Swansea
• Dillwyn Gallery, Swansea
• Benet Gallery, Cambridge (twice)
• Absolom and Centre Designs, Bath
• Clare College Music Room, Cambridge
• Halifax House, Oxford
• Rutherford College, University of Kent at Canterbury
• Dunelm House, Durham
• Senior Staff Common Room, University of Bristol
• Traverse Theatre Club, Edinburgh
• Gulbenkian Theatre, University of Kent at Canterbury
• Dorset Institute of Higher Education, Weymouth

Group Shows during the same period

• Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
• John Moores Biennale, Liverpool
• The Midland Group, Nottingham
• Benet Gallery, Cambridge

Included in Private Collections in:-
England, Scotland, Ireland,Wales, Finland, Switzerland, France, New Zealand, USA and Sweden.

Included in Public Collections:-

• Cambridge University: Kings; Magdelene; Clare; Jesus; Girton; Gonville & Caius
• University of Kent: Rutherford College
• Royal College of Physicians, London
• The British Embassy in Paris (on loan from Kettles yard)
• Linacre House, Oxford
• Essex University
• Newcastle University
• Dublin University
• Kettles Yard, University of Cambridge (permanent and loan collections)
• The Bank of Ireland, London
• Work 1947- 1998
• Textile & Wallcoverings – Designs from 1962 through 1978 in collections by Heals,Turnbull and Stockdale, Sandersons, Danasco, Palladio, Crown and ICL.
• Book Jacket Designs:- Wildwood Press
• Student Work, 1947-52 (Collection Thos. Harvey, New Zealand)
• Textile and Wallcoverings, 1950-52 (Collection Thos. Harvey, New Zealand)
• Early Paintings and Designs in New Zealand, 1955-60

Series of Paintings as Follows:-

1. Paintings, gouache, sheets in wax, powder, ink, plaster etc, 1960
2. Paintings, sheets, housepaint, encaustic, first series, approx 16 works, 1960
3. Paintings, housepaint, textile dye, distemper, tar, 1961
4. Paitings, oil and melted plastic, buckets and rubber, Blotting Paper Corner Series, 1961-1964
5. Paintings, oil, crayon, charcoal, lead sheeting, 1965
6. Paintings, series of 100 small mixed media, 1965
7. Paintings, series L shape, oil, tempera, polyurethane, polymer, crayon, 1966
8. Small L shape Iron Forms and White Plastic Face Masks, 1966
9. Small L shape Wooden Forms, 1966
10. Paintings series of painted canvas covered boxes, oil, 1967
11. Paintings series of small pink and mauve band paintings (some later painted over) 1968
12. Paintings, Spanish Series (landscapes) single and double humps, oil on paper, 1968
13. Round and Sausage shaped balloons, white only, buried in earth – photographed, some photos later used in American Series. Destroyed 1968
14. Series of large hangings, bandaged flags with breasts. Bandage on canvas with sepia photographs – 8 works (Gulbenkian) – since rotted and destroyed, 1969/70 (some subsequently found and saved) 3,400 Coastal Walk (material available for artistic development), 1970
15. Drawings, floating forms on paper, pastels, pen, crayon, chalk, pencil, 1975
16. Paintings, Imperial size landscapes, oil on paper, gloss and charcoal, dark green and pale bluegreys, 1975
17. Paintings series, Single Hostages and Double Hostages, mixed media, 52 heads and 15 double heads respectively, 1976-1977
18. Series,American sketches, experiences, 26 works,A-Z mixed media, 1977
19. Beuwolf sketchbooks, based of poem by L Fulcher, 1979
20. Earthworks and Hostages sketch book (including Uncle John’s death), 1979. NB*
21. Paintings series, Masked Hostages, mixed media, 52 heads, 1979
22. Painters earthworks, assisted by L Fulcher, grave digging and burials with pigs offal and maggots, photography by Dan Goldstein. Still to be resolved, 1979
23. Cloaked figures with dummies in landscape, 1979
24. Wood/feather fetishes (free standing, mixed media, 17 works (post Bangkok), 1985
25. Collage maquets/sketch assemblages, in plastic, 1990
26. First Series, Fulcher portraits, 30 mixed media, 1997
27. Second Series, Fulcher portraits, 11 mixed media, 1997/98
28. Third Series, Fulcher portraits, 9 mixed media, 1998
29. Earthworks resolved with series of 250 painted photographs, 1997/98 1998 – 2005/6
30. *NBWar painting 1 – 1999, mixed media
31. Large pitch & mixed media on board series
32. Love Poems, rubber stamp print on photo paper series, ink, blood, wine, glue etc
33. Borough Margate News abstracts series, mixed media
34. Arrows series, paint/pencil/pen on paper
35. Marks on paper series drawings with paint
36. Sarasota Streets series, small collages
37. New York apartment series, mixed media
38. No Poem, series by LF
39. Small Japanese collage series, Paper and used tea bags
40. Florian’s people series, mixed media (inspired by the drawings of Florian Blackburn)
41. 2005 Abstract February Series (Westbere/ Littlebourne)
42. 2005/6 Devil & Religious Fool series, blues/greys/blacks/browns, paint and concrete on canvas
43. Small Arrows and Plague series
44. Mixed Stage drawings series
45. Large White Tryptic ( 3 works on canvas) Lead, tin, steel, apoxy, nuts and bolts, concrete, tiles, wine, oil, household paint, industrial paint, etc.
46. Drawings on fax roll paper, mixed media