26 minutes
December 2006
R0 (PAL), SD mp4
5060033836699

Joe Tilson

Since the 1960s, when he was associated with British Pop Art, Joe Tilson has enjoyed international acclaim for the individuality and originality of his paintings, constructions, prints and multiples. All of his playful, engaging work is informed with ideas from literature, philosophy, ethnography and alchemy.

Tilson’s early work focussed on mass-market consumerism and politics. But he was soon disenchanted with mechanical methods of production and his art in the 1970s and 1980s employed hand-worked wood and metal in intriguing ways.

Shot in and around the artist’s studio in Cortona, Italy, this film was produced alongside Joe Tilson’s first British retrospective at London’s Royal Academy of Arts. He speaks engagingly about his career, his craft and many of his key works, including his most recent paintings. Inspired by the landscape surrounding his home in the Tuscan hills, these works use striking and vibrant colours in conjunction with text, and explore the enduring themes of sex, birth and death.

theEYE is an excellent introduction to contemporary artists and their works and provides an ideal resource for a wide range of audiences, including galleries, museums and colleges, as well as individual art-lover.