John Loker
John loker's work is both dynamic and engaging. John executes his work with precision and passion.
“The dynamics of a work lie in the inherent control of the language – the manipulation of the material in order that it might transcend its ordinary form: It does not illustrate the event it becomes the event.”
It is clearly evident when you explore John's works why he continues to have international success.
Background
John Loker, was born in Leeds in 1938. He studied graphic design at Bradford College of Art & Design (1954-58) and painting at the Royal College of Art (1960-1963). He now lives and works in Norfolk. John has had numerous solo exhibitions in the UK and Europe and has shown regularly at Flowers East, London and the Wetering Galerie, Amsterdam since 1970. His participation in group shows is extensive, including exhibiting in the summer exhibitions at the Royal Academy. John Loker's work is in many public collections globally including the Tate Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum,British Council, Manchester City Council and the Power Institute, Sydney.
Inspiration
"I am initially drawn to the objects or elements used in the work by their power, function or beauty. There is always an underlying content that can be developed, like the icons on a computer; the small image is a surface sign for what is hidden beneath. Click - and they open.
Through painting I try to 'open' the elements. The whales tail image conveyed grace and strength for me, the way I could intertwine two or more to suggest a gentle waltz, spoke of its vulnerability in spite of its being the largest, most powerful animal on earth.
Little Boy Blue
"The two small paintings/assemblages were made for the exhibition 'Small Is Beautiful' an annual exhibition at Flowers Gallery with the theme that year being 'Nursery Rhymes'.
I have taken the subject in a very simplistic way. First, I always associate nursery rhymes with childhood books being read to me, the layers of pages in the work are just that, the book. Also the innocence of the child enjoying the story has no need of meaning or content beyond the pleasure or delight in the rhyme or the pictures, as often these are picture books.
The actual content of these becomes more confusing as there are many theories and diverse opinions on the origins of many of the rhymes. Disasters, wars, social and religious events and especially political satire are all a part of the richness of nursery rhyme history.
One interpretation relating to Little Boy Blue concerns Cardinal Wolsey and his apparent incompetence as Lord Chancellor, he is Little Boy Blue, 'Come blow on your horn' i.e. assert your authority - political satire of the Tudors.
So the two works contain these elements - Cardinal - Book - Little Boy Blue with his horn. The Cardinal passes through the book and becomes Little Boy Blue. A simple tongue in cheek interpretation of the 'truth'.
To canvas
In the 'Wiper Series' the wiping action of the image led to ways of realising the paintings, physically recreating the windscreen wiper and using it to obscure images already made. Again the contradiction is informing the work - wipers wipe, mine obscure. This is the recalling of an encounter with a twister whilst driving.
In more recent works on paper and the large canvases I have taken as a source the biggest canvas possible - Space, the impossible concept of infinity - against my attempts to manipulate paint and form both surface and image to grasp at the idea - everything yet nothing, the importance of evolution and life is as nothing to Infinity …………. Line on line, colour on colour, marking the surface in an attempt to redefine it, to feel the infinity.
The image I am currently using resembles a dumpy little aircraft, this is taken from a NASA photograph of the Columbia space capsule exploding on re-entry, again the delicate balance - destruction at the point of safety.
These thoughts and experiences are feeding the work, they excite me, generating the energy of it, but the working process is the real inventor and director of the work. Finding ways of manipulating surfaces e.g. folding and manipulating the paper surface to reveal the hidden, or finding ways to describe infinity whilst still preserving the integrity of the canvas or paper surface. There are limitless moves of a very physical and messy substance, paint. Instinct, contrivance, intellect and emotion are all contributors to the process.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- Has shown regularly at Angela Flowers Gallery since 1970 - Horizontals and Drawings, Angela Flowers Gallery and ICA, London - Wettering Gallery, Amsterdam - Park Square Gallery, Leeds - Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol - Newlyn Orion, Newlyn - Carwright Hall, Bradford – Arts Council touring exhibions - Galerie Du Monde, Hong Kong - Latest exhibition at Angela Flowers Gallery, Cork Street, London, 2009
Selected Group Exhibitions include
- Het Landschap, Gemoentelijke Reekumgalery, Apeldoorn, Holland - Landscape to Land Art, Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Hovikodden, Norway - The British Arts Show: Arts Council of Great Britain, touring exhibitions - Landscape, The Print-Maker's View, Tate Gallery, London - Fourth Biennale of European Graphic Art, Baden-Baden - Side by Side: Contemporary British and Malaysian Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya - Angela Flowers 1990, Barbican Centre, London - Intergrafik 90, Berlin, Germany - Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions, various, (Nordstern prize 1994) - Modern British Abstracts, The Last Gallery, Zurich - Elm Hill Contemporary Arts, Norwich - Norman Stevens Tribute Exhibition Redfern Gallery, London - Northern Artists, Revolve Gallery, Clitheroe, Lancashire Awards / Commissions
- Watmoughs Holdings, Bradford - Essex General Hospital, 1984 - Stanhope Developments (for Norman Foster ITN building, London) Selected Public and Private Collections
- Arts Council of Great Britain - British Council - Chase Manhattan Bank - Department of the Environment - Deutsch Bank AG, London - Leeds City Art Gallery - Manchester City Art Gallery - Power Institute of Fine Art, Sydney - Tate Gallery - Victoria & Albert Museum - Hunterian Collection Glasgow - De Beers
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