Biography from the Tate Gallery
British painter, sculptor, photographer and printmaker Derek Boshier ((1937-2024)) studied painting and lithography at Yeovil School of Art in Somerset (1953-7), Guildford College of Art (1957-9) and the Royal College of Art, London (1959-62), where he was one of the students associated with Pop art.
Boshier juxtaposed contrasting styles within his paintings, but he favoured topical subject-matter such as the space race, political events and the Americanisation of Europe.
In the autumn of 1962 Boshier went to India on a one-year scholarship, producing paintings based on Indian symbolism (accidentally destr.).
Returning to England he adopted a hard-edged geometric style, often using shaped canvases, abandoning overt figuration but continuing to allude through form to architectural structures and to the grid plans of cities.
In 1966 Boshier turned briefly to sculpture, producing elemental shapes made of perspex and neon, in effect a jazzy version of nascent Minimalism.
During the 1970s he experimented with different media, producing photographs, films, collages, constructions, books, posters and record covers.
The diversity of this output was unified by his response to contemporary events, his insistence on the social context, his unmasking of the sinister aspects of advertising and his promotion of radical politics.
Boshier returned to painting in 1979, and in 1980 he took up a teaching post in Houston, Texas, where he began introducing poignant, sometimes comical, figures into his canvases.
Often garishly coloured and rough in execution, these painted observations of human behaviour earned him a new and devoted following. | Source: © Tate Gallery
Dereck Boshier | David Bowie portrait
Biography from the Wikipedia
Derek Boshier (19 June 1937 - 5 September 2024) was an British artist, among the first proponents of British pop art.
He worked in various media including painting, drawing, collage, and sculpture.
In the 1970s he shifted from painting to photography, film, video, assemblage, and installations, but he returned to painting by the end of the decade.
Addressing the question of what shapes his work, Boshier once stated:
"Most important is life itself, my sources tend to be current events, personal events, social and political situations, and a sense of place and places".
His work uses popular culture and the mixing of high and low culture to confront government, revolution, sex, technology and war with subversive dark humor.
Boshier was commissioned by David Bowie, The Clash and The Pretty Things.
He died on 5 September 2024, at the age of 87. | Source: © Wikipedia
Pittore, scultore, designer ed artista sperimentale Britannico, Derek Boshier (19 June 1937 – 5 September 2024) è stato tra i primi sostenitori della pop art britannica.
Derek Boshier nacque nel 1937 e come Blake e Hamilton studiò pittura al Royal College of Art.
Fu uno degli studenti del Royal College of Art a introdurre la pop art britannica nella mostra degli Young Contemporaries del 1961.
Le opere di questo periodo si occupavano del potere di manipolazione della pubblicità, che tratta l’uomo come se fosse un prodotto di massa.
Il coinvolgimento di Boshier nella Pop art è stato comunque molto breve.
Dal 1966 ha lavorato con la scultura, la fotografia, il cinema e l'arte concettuale, per poi tornare a dipingere nel 1979.
Negli anni Ottanta ha insegnato pittura all’università del Texas.
Il contesto sociale fu un elemento importante del lavoro di Derek Boshier, affrontando di petto argomenti che avevano forti connotazioni politiche come il controllo delle armi, la brutalità della polizia e le multinazionali.
Fu professore ospite alla University of California Los Angeles School of Arts, dove insegnava disegno.
Derek Boshier morì il 5 settembre 2024, all'età di 87 anni.
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