EXHIBITIONS devoted to the distinguished British artist William Tillyer – more celebrated perhaps in New York than in the Cleveland area where he lives – will be mounted this autumn at mima, in Middlesbrough, and simultaneously at two other galleries to mark his 50-year career.
All the main gallery spaces at mima will be given over to the exhibition, William Tillyer: Against Nature, which opens on October 25, is the largest presentation by a single artist at the gallery since it opened in 2007.
Tillyer’s work has been shown in many museums and galleries internationally, but is surprisingly little known in this country and in his home region.
Visually sumptuous and beautiful to look at, his paintings, watercolours, sculptures and drawings are concerned with colour, texture and form.
A highlight will be 50 of his watercolours, many rooted in the landscape of North Yorkshire, as well as those made on his extensive travels around the world.
The exhibition will include a huge digitally manipulated watercolour commissioned by mima, plus the spectacular 7m Skydancer as well as lesser known early conceptual pieces. It will provide an opportunity to discover and celebrate the work of an astonishingly talented artist admired by fellow artists, critics and collectors. The exhibtion runs until February 9.
Tillyer was born September 25, 1938, the son of a Middlesbrough hardware store owner. He was educated at Middlesbrough College of Art before going on to study at The Slade School of Art, London, and Stanley William Hayter’s renowned print workshop, Atelier 17, Paris.
He returned to North Yorkshire in 1980 and has lived and worked in the area since then. He has lectured at universities around the world and is represented by Bernard Jacobson Gallery in London and New York.
His work is held in many museum and corporate art collections, including Tate, The Arts Council Collection, Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Hepworth, Wakefield, V&A, Bank of America and Broadgate, as well as in private collections including those of David Bowie and Charles Saatchi.
Over the same period, the National Park Gallery at Danby will show a selection of his watercolours and Platform A, Middlesbrough, will display sculptural pieces never previously exhibited.
The mima exhibition will be accompanied by talks and events, and the catalogue will have an essay by American poet and critic John Yau.
North Yorkshire Landscape, 1991
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