One of the UK's most respected abstract painters, and CLOSE artist, Brian Rice has a restrospective exhibition which tells the story of the artist whose 70 year career began with his days at Yeovil School of Art.
"Brian says,
“I am so pleased finally to show this work from my days as a student at Yeovil School of Art in Yeovil itself, having never before found a suitable venue to do so. I see this as a celebration of the great training Yeovil School of Art gave to several generations of aspiring artists”
Born in Yeovil, Brian began his art training at the Yeovil School of Art aged 17, where he studied Illustration, Textile Printing and Oil Painting as part of an NDD course.
Now 88, his work is in over 70 international collections, including the Tate Gallery and The Victoria and Albert Museum among many other esteemed collections nationally and internationally. When he moved to London in the early 1960s, he was filmed by American TV as part of the ‘Swinging London’ scene. He met The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and many actors and pop musicians, he was friends with Peter Blake, Jo Tilson, Alan Jones and fellow Yeovil School of Art student Derek Boshier, mixing with fashion designers, photographers, models and designers in TV.
The exhibition presents an extensive collection of over 40 pieces of early works made by Brian in the 1950s, including his first wood engraving ‘Rare Breed’. Art education in the 1950s was rigorous, “The skills I learnt then still inform my work today” says Brian.
His art school work includes figurative drawings and landscapes, which may surprise many who are more familiar with his bold colourful abstract paintings. An early portrait drawing titled “Lady with a Hat’ is seen on the exhibition publicity. Also in the show is his personal archive of photos, such as The Christmas ball at Yeovil School of Art in 1952. The early figurative and landscape work in the show depicts many local scenes, including several of Yeovil town centre as it then was, along with Montacute House and views from Ham Hill.
