Stanley Picker Gallery is pleased to present Picture Stories: A Retrospective Exhibition featuring the work of illustrator Robin Harris in the Project Studio. The exhibition covers just a small proportion of Robin’s impressive output over five decades and includes:
Paintings and illustrations inspired from his travels to America and Canada.
Illustrations from a large portfolio of publishing work carried out in the 1970s and 1980s.
Examples from the 30 Images Concerning the Universal Declaration of Human Rights completed in 1987.
Abstract paintings, collage work and mixed media.
Polaroid images – a reference point in the development of ideas and drawings.
From ‘board to screen’ – the transition from physical artwork to computer generated images.
Storybooks for children and illustrations created on the computer
Sketch books and other visual forms of inspiration.
On Robin’s Legacy by Geoff Grandfield, Department of Illustration Animation at Kingston School of Art
Robin taught at Kingston School of Art for over 20 years, from 2000 to 2021, primarily as the lead tutor for MA Illustration. He was also a key tutor at Central St Martins in the 1980’s, at Middlesex University where I first worked with him and Camberwell College of Art.
He was inspiring and original to work with, his enthusiasm and instinct for nurturing the best work of an individual launched the careers of many illustrators and artists. At Kingston he pioneered international recruitment for MA Illustration and actually learnt the Korean language, building strong links with South Korea and Asia that KSA is proud to continue today.
He was a leading Illustrator of his generation, internationally commissioned for his arresting figurative conceptual images for book covers, magazines and newspapers. His working life covered the transition from mechanical printing processes and the analogue production of artwork for scanning to the newly available Apple Mackintosh home computers and he was one of the first UK illustrators to make digital work for commissions.
This presentation of a selection of his material artwork and published outcomes aims to give an insight into his working process, photography, painting and collage techniques. The transition from a drawing practice into the vast creative potential of the digital was a goal that he pursued and perhaps more importantly, he encouraged and supported in the many hundreds of students he taught.
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Gallery Exhibits
From the private collections of Bill Kirkland and Penny Taylor
Contributors to the catalogue
Chris Brown
Geoff Grandfield
Bill Kirkland
Jo Lawrence
Mario Minichiello
Robert Shadbolt
Janet Wooley