A Passionate & Inspiring Individual
Stanley Picker Fellow 1983
It is with deep sadness that we hear of the passing of Stanley Picker Fellow Brian McCann on Monday 3 March 2014. Our thoughts are with his family, close friends and colleagues.
Commissioned for the opening of the Stanley Picker Gallery in 1997, the artist’s bronze sculpture Recognition (above), based upon the his own finger print, has been adorned with floral tributes from the staff he worked with and the students he taught here at the University. The artwork now stands in the Stanley Picker Gallery grounds as a fitting memorial to a passionate and inspiring individual.
Brian McCann studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art Dundee, graduating with a BA honours in Sculpture. He went on to post graduate study at the Royal College of Art in London where he received an MA in Sculpture. After completing a Stanley Picker Fellowship here at Kingston University he was awarded a two-year Prix de Rome Scholarship in Sculpture at the British School in Rome. Brian was the first Tate Gallery Liverpool Momart Fellow. He exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions, nationally and internationally. Brian McCann was Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Kingston University, London and a regular visiting lecturer to the Royal Academy Schools and Royal College of Art Sculpture School in London.
Louis Nixon, Head of the School of Fine Art, paid tribute to him with the folowing:
“It is with great sadness that we receive the news of the death of Brian McCann. After a serious illness Brian passed away at home with his family. Many who knew Brian will appreciate the void his passing will leave in both the Faculty and the School. After more than 20 years of working in the School of Fine Art, his contribution to its development and success was enormous and he will be very greatly missed by all the staff and students who knew him and benefited so much from his considerable knowledge, companionship and good humour.
Brian was hugely respected and liked by everyone, and the commitment and courage he showed during the last few months of his life was exemplary. Brian continued to teach and make art until the very end. Last week his recent work was included in the exhibition Figuring at the Royal Society of British Sculptors and I’m sure this is how he would like to be remembered, as both a great artist and educator.”