Damien Hirst, father of some children.
You can see the whole piece here.
I cut the square from a postcard I bought from the Tate years ago. The photograph was taken in 1999 by Steve Pyke.
Damien Hirst, father of some children.
You can see the whole piece here.
I cut the square from a postcard I bought from the Tate years ago. The photograph was taken in 1999 by Steve Pyke.
Alison Sye 
I know someone who was at art school with him. He offered them one of his butterfly or dot paintings (can’t remember which), but they turned it down because it would have been a hassle taking a bulky canvas home on the Tube. Needless to say they regretted not taking it! 🙂
Was the person you know in our year. Could you send me their name in a private way?
If the person was at art school with him then they were also at art school with me (oh, unless they were at Leeds with him). I would love to know who the person is.
🙂
Alison, I think we’re pretty much contemporaries…were you 87-90?
October 1986 – 90. I had a year out between the second and final year. I found it very hard. My dad was a miner and my mam cleaned other people’s houses. I went to a crap comprehensive. I was totally out of my depth. I became extremely introverted. Spending every day in the studio and barely talking to anyone. I think people didn’t realise I was ill. I just seemed arty. You could get away with that at Goldsmiths, we were pretty much self-taught in those days, the tutors mainly just did their own thing. During my year out I went to New York alone and spent the rest of the time working in Foyles. I came back more like the person I used to be.
Were you at the RCA?
That’s really odd – we really are contemporaries – I did 86-90 at the Slade. Also from a crap comprehensive, also out of my depth, but drank a lot and acted the goat to compensate. I’d have loved to have taken the second year out – that was the worst – instead I had poor attendance and risked getting kicked out. Know what you mean about being self-taught. I’ve just started painting again and I realised I’ve never been taught a single thing about painting, despite being in a painting studio for two years! Glad you were OK in the end. It’s easy to lose yourself in that kind of environment. What kind of work did you make?
I was besotted with a boy I knew when I was about 17. He was from Newcastle, always wore a suit and had beautiful hands. He didn’t even know I existed. I can’t even remember his name now!!! Think it was Ian. He will have been 2 years (?) above you at the Slade. Fine Art.
I didn’t really have a choice in taking a year out. I was nudged. I did the first 2 years before the nudge and then my final year after. The low point was when I was forced to see the college shrink. I couldn’t see her when I walked in because the room was so full of her smoke. Oddly, it was at that point that I saw things clearly. I didn’t go back to see her again. Then, the officials were allerted :)))
I was much more painty then, but still with the stitching. Always the stitching. My work was much bigger, too. We had luxuriously large studios. Didn’t know we were born. Annoyingly, didn’t take any photos and sold everything at the show. For peanuts.
What about you? What are you painting? Sounds great just to be painting again, almost doesn’t matter what it is.
Funnily enough around that time there were loads of people wearing suits. I don’t remember an Ian or anyone with a Newcastle accent – was he a life painter? That sounds rough – love your description of the counsellor though – very demonic. Yes, our studio was huge (it’s been divided up since) and we complained about it not being big enough!! I’m working on our dining table now, ha ha. So the stuff’s not massive, but it’s kind of modular – I’m working on six section painting at the mo, which will be about 8ft long. They’re based on digital images like the ones I’ve made over the last few years. If I can get some decent photos, I’ll post a few on TFIPM. I’m really enjoying it. Really gone off blogging though…have a great weekend!
I wish I’d been to school with both of you. You sound great.
I wish you had, too, Claudia 🙂
Maybe we can still work something out?!?
It still sounds good to me 🙂
Yes, me too.
As I said to Alison, maybe we can still work something out?!?
That sounds interesting.
In this life there is no telling what may happen. I could just get on a plane and be there in one day, what a world we live in! I’m not planning to go to my college reunion (and I live about 15 miles from the place, for perspective, pretty easy to get to) but I really think I’d like yours better!
Yes, I would’ve loved to have been with you at art school, Claudia
I hope so. Although I have to mention that I think I am about 10 years older than you, being in college 1976-1980, so we would have to do some time-stretching. It is so nice to be where we are now and not separated into age or school years and so on. This is why we can have a reunion when we have never met, right! I am liking this life we are in now in 2016!
I like the idea of time-stretching…
Sounds good to me
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