Ms Estelle Thompson
Senior Lecturer
Slade School Of Fine Art Gower Street
UCL London WC1E 6BT
Biography
Estelle Thompson (b. 1960) MA Royal College of Art, London 1983–1986.
Solo exhibitions; Flowers Gallery, London (2016); Oriel Sycharth Gallery, Wrexham (2014); Purdy Hicks, London, (1989 - 2009); Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, (2004); The New Gallery, Walsall (2001); Rosenberg and Kaufman Fine Art, New York (2001) and Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham (2000); Galerie Helmut Pabst, Frankfurt (1999); Fuse Paintings Usher Gallery, Lincoln; Mead Gallery, University of Warwick; South Hill Park, Bracknell (1997-98); Abbot Hall Art Gallery Kendal (1997); Galerie Helmut Pabst (1996); PHG touring to Winchester Gallery; Towner Art Gallery and Darlington Arts Centre (1993-94).
Group exhibitions include; Small is Beautiful, Flowers Gallery, London (2016); In Light of The Monochrome, Dye House Gallery, Bradford; Kaleidoscope Eyes, Austin Forum, London; Equivalence, Richmond AIU, London; DACS Foundation Auction, Londonewcastle, London; Carbon meets Silicon: ITA, OSG, Wrexham; detail, Usher Gallery, Lincoln; Drawing Biennial, Drawing Room, London (2015); Drawn Togetherartist as Selector, Jerwood Gallery, Hastings; Head to Head, Standpoint Gallery, London (2014) detail, Transition Gallery, London; H-Galllery, Bangkok (2014), Colour as Material, Kuvataideakatemia, Helsinki (2013), Do You Believe in Angels?, Mo space, Manila (2014); Eqautor Art Projects, Singapore (2014), Small is Beautiful XXXI Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue?, Flowers Gallery, London (2013), The Theory and Practice of the Small Painting, Equator Art Projects (2013), Back and Forth, B55, Budapest (2012), Maquettes, Furnished Space, London (2011), Calligrams, Eagle Gallery, London (2010), L’apres moderne, Project Midi, Brussels (2008) and Drawing Breath, Gallery 1, NAS Galleries, Sydney; NAFA Galleries, Singapore; Wimbledon Space, London; RWA, Bristol; Robert Gordon University Gallery, Aberdeen (2006-8); Felim Egan, Estelle Thompson, Rosenberg & Kaufman Fine Art, New York (2001); Blue: borrowed and new, The New Art Gallery, Walsall (2000); History, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull; Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh; Cartwright Hall, Bradford; Orleans House, Twickenham; Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, York City Art Gallery; Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; A Question of Scale, Winchester Gallery; Arnolfini, Bristol (1998-99); Six British Painters, Galerie Helmut Pabst, Frankfurt (1996); Castlefield Gallery, 10th Anniversary, Whitworth Art Gallery (1994); Moving into View, Recent British Painting, Royal Festival Hall, London; Darlington Arts Centre; Chapter, Cardiff; Oriel Gallery, Mold; Newlyn Orion Gallery, Penzance; University of Northumbria, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Drumcroon Arts Centre, Wigan; Harrogate Museum & Art Gallery; Victoria Art Gallery (1993)
Awards; 2014 Santander Research Catalyst 1999 Milton Keynes Theatre; 1993 Quaglino’s, London; 1990 Prudential Award for the Arts 1990/Arts Council Special Award; 1988 Royal Overseas League Travel Award; 1983 Ethel Willis, Ethel Henriques and Fred Richards Memorial Travel Scholarship.
Research Summary
As a painter I have researched painted colour and established colour theory. Between 1997- 2002 my work related to prismatic light, colour harmony and colour perception. I devised a new paint application process (self pre-mixed and self-tubed oil paint applied with rollers) to form prismatic fusing of colour to create optical transition as in a spectrum. A monograph; Estelle Thompson (ISBN 1- 85894-152-0), Tony Godfrey and Deborah Robinson was published by Merrell. Paintings produced under this research form are in; Arts Council Collection, British Council Collection, British Museum, Contemporary Art Society and The New Art Gallery Walsall. Several paintings are included in the Public Catalogue Foundation and in the Chapter Pure Abstraction in Painting Today, published by Phaidon in 2009 (ISBN 9780714846316).
Paintings 2002-2016 research Greek and Venetian theories of colour, colour perception and symbolism, Albers and Bauhaus colour theory, Modernist and Contemporary painted colour. Exhibitions, publications (Estelle Thompson - ISBN 9781873184073), www.estellethompson.com, and inclusion in the Arts Council of Great Britain Collection, evidence this research. My public art/architectural projects incorporate paintings or wall works into architecture;considering conditions of light and space and colour movement; Quaglino’s, London, commissioned by Sir Terence Conran and Milton Keynes Theatre and Art Gallery. Later projects, colour design was integral to the architecture; Orchard Park Health Centre, Hull, 2002-4 and South Bristol Community Hospital, 2004-8, exterior façade, interior way-finding flooring designs and entrance canopy lighting design addressing colour symbolism and colour psychology in healthcare design. Further architectural commissions and collaborative projects include; a glass curtain wall and flooring design for the Catrin Finch Centre, 2008-9 and Centre for the Creative Industries, 2011 Wrexham Glyndwr University exterior facade and manifestation designs. I co-curated (with Tamas Jovanovics) the British Council funded exhibition Back and Forth: Eight Artists form London at B55 Gallery, Budapest connecting the Hungarian MADI group to contemporary UK based abstract artists. I have curated exhibitions including; The Art of Function, 2010 and Art and Industry, 2012 at the Oriel Sycharth, Wrexham. I contributed to the symposia and corresponding exhibition; In Light of the Monochrome, Dye House Gallery, Bradford College, 2015;You see what you see or You see who you are: Reflecting on a few painters making mirrors, walls and voids with pigment. The research included visual perception, the monochrome, Gerhard Richter, Rodchenko, Rothko and contemporary artists’ material use and material presence -insight.lancaster.ac.uk; www.bradfordcollege.ac.uk; roundtown.com. I co-organised and chaired the Artists’ Books Conference: Collaborations at Richmond University, London, 2015. A Frame of Mind with Hand in Glove; Artists’ Book collaborations in education; a working collection addressed Book Art production as a collaborative educational tool and focused on the publications made at the Slade, UCL alumni and Slade Press. The accompanying exhibition Equivalence included my Book Art work LC43-6 2014.
Teaching Summary
Other appointments and educational affiliations include; Senior Research Fellow, De Montfort University 1994 – 2000; Visiting Professor, 2001 – 2007 and Research Professor in Fine Art, 2007 – 2008, North Wales Institute of Higher Education; Research Professor in Fine Art, Wrexham Glyndwr University 2008- present; Head of School of Media, Arts and Design, Wrexham Glyndwr University 2014 – 2015; Jury Member for Jerwood Drawing Prize and Director of the Oriel Sycharth Gallery, Wrexham Glyndwr University 2009-16.
Exhibitions
Imperfect Reverse
2016Ruskin Gallery
Research and exhibition questions visual transformation, both temporal and aspectual towards a synthesis of experience
Imperfect Reverse
2016Camberwell Space Projects
This research questions visual transformation, and examines an operational shift in working processes, towards a synthesis of experience
Artist of The Day
2016Flowers Gallery, London
Artists selected by prominent figures in the contemporary art world present a solo body of work showing originality, promise and ability from the fields of drawing, painting, sculpture and photography.
Kaleidoscope Eyes
2015Austin Forum
The work of several artists explore the psychedelic, scientific and formal associations of the kaleidoscope.
detail
2015Usher Gallery
Survey show of extracted detail from works by International group of contemporary painters
White Lies
2014Oriel Sycharth Gallery
A solo exhibition curated by Charles Dandy was a partial survey of works produced over the last 17 years, including paintings on linen, aluminium, panel and paper drawing together central strands of practice and recurrent research - chromatic monochromes, spatial block paintings, vertical stripe fuse paintings, geometrically divided and subdivided paintings and cut paper collages. These visual architectures, at once functions of space and mechanical order, colour investigation, the lightness and touch of painting in and of itself, but more profoundly of its intersections with the world.
Head to Head (Standpoint)
2014Standpoint Gallery, London,
Head to Head takes on four questions important to the continuing progression of painting. What is painting after the internet? How has the exponential growth of image culture changed painting's engagement with depiction? What are the building blocks of painting, and to what extent do painters feel the need to employ them to complete a painting? Is there still merit in the act of painting itself as the prime subject- rather than using it as a means to illustrate an external concept?
Theory and Practice of the Small Painting
2014Equator Art Projects
Survey of contemporary artists making small paintings as part of practice
Theory and Practice of Small Painting
2014Mo Space
Survey of painters working in small format
detail
2014H-Gallery
contemporary painters/painted details
Small is Beautiful XXI Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue
2014Flowers Gallery
Survey painting show, exploring a primary colour palette
detail
2014Transition Gallery
Detail survey of contemporary painters paintings
Drawn Together Artist as Selector, Jerwood Gallery, Hastings
2014Jerwood Gallery
Exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Jerwood Drawing Prize, centres on the role of drawing in the practice of artists who have been on the selection panel of the Jerwood Drawing Prize, exploring the selectors' own drawing practice and interests, continuing the dialogue about what constitutes drawing and its importance as a medium for artists working today
Head to Head, Rogue Project Space, Manchester
2013Rogue Project Space, Manchester
HEAD TO HEAD takes on three questions relevant to how painting that maintains its traditional wall based format might continue to progress. Three pairings of works by six contemporary painters become points of reference for the following questions and invite consideration as to paintings continuing contribution to a broader debate in art. Can painting transcend the comfortable confines of society’s internet-centered framework to find new strategies for positive progression? Is there such a thing as post-internet awareness/logic? In today's image-savvy culture, what makes a painting become more than just another image? Is there still merit in taking painting as the prime subject?
Back And Forth
2012B55 Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
I conceived and co-curated this exhibition with Tamas Jovanovics. It was a group exhibition of eight artists - all painters based in London selected to showcase an aspect of contemporary abstract 'Geometric' painting in the UK to a Hungarian audience.
'A' is not equal to 'A'
2010Quare Gallery, London, UK.
Featuring photographs by fourteen artists in response to a previous installation of works by Richard Bevan, only seen and experienced by the photographic documentation.
Summer Exhibition 2010
2010Purdy Hicks Gallery, London, UK.
New work by gallery artists.
Calligrams
2010Eagle Gallery
Four abstract painters - Jane Bustin, Kevin Finklea, Matt Magee and Estelle Thompson - selected exhibition.
Black and White Flower Painting≅≅≅√
2010Imperial College Healthcare Charity Arts Committee at Charing Cross Hospital, London, UK.
An exhibition of black and white flower paintings by staff and students in Graduate Painting, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL.
Estelle Thompson
2009Purdy Hicks Gallery, London, UK.
An exhibition of recent paintings from 2006-2009 at Purdy Hicks Gallery, London. Publication 24 page colour catalogue. ISBN: 978 1 873 184 07 3. Inclusion in 'Painting Today' - Tony Godfrey, Phaidon (2010).
L'Apres Moderne
2008Project Midi, 3 Rue du Rectangle, 1080 Brussels, Belgium
Drawing Breath: 10 Years of the Jerwood Drawing Prize
2008Royal West of England Academy, Queen's Road Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1PX
Tipping Point
2008Purdy Hicks Gallery, 65 Hopton Street, London, SE1 9GZ
Drawing Breath: 10 Years of the Jerwood Drawing Prize
2007National Art School Gallery, National Art School, Forbes St, Darlinghurst, Australia
Drawing Breath: 10 Years of the Jerwood Drawing Prize
2006Wimbledon College of Art, Merton Hall Road, London SW19 3QA
Estelle Thompson
2006Purdy Hicks, London
Estelle Thompson 'True Colours'
2004Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Santa Smiles (Sometimes)
2003Ols and Co, London
Hybrid
2003Art Space, Imperial College London
Gallery Artists
2003Purdy Hicks Gallery, London
Estelle Thompson
2003Purdy Hicks Gallery, London
Three from the Royal College of Art, London
2003New England School of Art and Design Gallery, 75 Arlington St, Suffolk University, USA
European Contemporary Artists from Purdy Hicks Gallery
2003Jane Deering Gallery, Gloucester, Massachussetts, USA
London Original Print Fair
2003Royal Academy, London
Purdy Hicks at Art 2003
2003Business Design Centre, London
Estelle Thompson and Felim Egan
2001Rosenberg and Kaufman Fine Art, New York, USA
Abstract Painting
2001Flowers East, London
Being Here: New Paintings by Estelle Thompson
2001The New Art Gallery, Walsall
Paintings 2000-2001
2001Purdy Hicks Gallery, London
New Work
2000Purdy Hicks Gallery, London
Estelle Thompson Recent Paintings
2000Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham
Einmal Leiwand, Einmal Papier
2000Galerie Helmut Pabst, Frankfurt, Germany
Blue, Borrowed and New
2000The New Art Gallery, Walsall
Estelle Thompson: Fuse Paintings
1998Usher Gallery, Lincoln and toured to Mead Gallery, Warwick 25 Ap
Estelle Thompson
1997Abbot Hall, Kendal
Prints
1997Purdy Hicks Gallery, London
Small is Beautiful
Flowers GalleryAn annual exhibition first established in 1974 (33rd edition) taking place in London and New York featuring invited/selected contemporary artists working in any media to present works with a fixed economy of scale, each piece measuring a maximum of 7 x 9 inches.
Publications
Artists’ Book: Collaborations
This one day conference examines the collaborative process (author and artist, text and image, maker/bookbinder and artist, etc.) that is fundamental to many examples of Artists' Books or Book art. the conference focuses on contemporary works and addresses the following fundamental questions: What kinds of dialogues feature in contemporary artists' books? How does this collaboration affect the production and dissemination/display of the work made?
In Light of the Monochrome
In Light of the Monochrome explores the many interpretations of the monochrome genre. the monochrome has the quality of being luminous, emitting or reflecting light through the painted surface. Light can also be regarded as a condition of the spiritual awareness, divine illumination, which references the transcendental or sublime often attributed to the monochrome. artists are also exploring the monochrome through digital and photographic light techniques. This symposium brings together some contemporary reflections on the genre
Flooring design for Glyndwr University
Curtain Wall/Glass Artwork
Clearer images
Commission wall work for Milton Keynes Theatre
Facade
Entrance light
Colour Commission - South Bristol Community Hospital
Column Mural
Commissioned painting on interior column
Designs for Lecture and Performance Theatre
Concept designs and consultation for redesign of Lecture Theatre and Performance Space, Wrexham Glyndwr University.
Centre for the Creative Industries
Concept Designs and development of exterior cascade and interior manifestations on new build multi-media Centre working with Lawray architects, Wrexham
Concept designs
Concept designs for development of specialist educational Centre for The Child