A few years ago i encountered at auction a box , designed and painted by Joe Tilson. I searched for the artist but beside the usual Wikipedia page, not much information was found. Hardly any auction history and only a few presentations in the Netherlands. One of these at the Boymans van Beuningen in 1973 ( catalogue now available at http://www.ftn-books.com), but the name remained present in my memory and i am still looking for an affordable multiple by this artist , since he represents Britisch Pop Art in a way i appreciate very much. Colorful , typical Pop Art themes come along and make his works desirable .
During the 1960s Tilson became one of the leading figures associated with the British Pop Art movement. Making use of his previous experience as a carpenter and joiner, Tilson produced wooden reliefs and constructions as well as prints and paintings.As a student at the RCA Tilson associated with Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff, R. B. Kitaj, Peter Blake, Allen Jones, Patrick Caulfield and David Hockney.[citation needed]
His first one-man show was held at the Marlborough Gallery, London in 1962.[4] In 1977 he joined the Waddington Galleries and also exhibited at the Alan Cristea Gallery and the Giò Marconi Galleries in Milan. Tilson’s work gained an international reputation when shown at the XXXII Venice Biennale in 1964,[ which led to a retrospective at the Boyman’s Museum, Rotterdam in 1964. Further retrospective exhibitions followed at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1979 and the Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol in 1984.
Growing disillusionment with the consumer society led to a change in Tilson work in the 1970s.After moving to Wiltshire in 1972, Tilson began to use a wider variety of materials, including stone, straw and rope in an effort to transcend time and culture by drawing on the motifs of pre-Classical mythology. This body of work was called Alchera.
Tilson’s work has been exhibited regularly in solo shows throughout the world: Cortona Centro Culturale Fontanella Borghese, Rome (1990), Plymouth City Museum (1991), Palazzo Pubblico, Siena (1995), Mestna Gallery, Ljubljana (1996) and Galleria Comunale d’Arte, Cesena (2000). Recently a major retrospective was held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (2002). Among Tilson’s awards are the Gulbenkian Foundation Prize (1960) and the Grand Prix d’Honneur, Biennale of Ljubljana (1996). He is a Royal Academician and his career was celebrated with a retrospective exhibition in 2002 at the Royal Academy ‘Joe Tilson: Pop to Present’ (Sackler Galleries) from April 2002. He was also invited to paint the banner for the “Palio”, Siena in 1996. In 2019, he was commissioned make an installation for the Swatch Pavilion at the Venice Biennial inspired by his ‘Stones of Venice’ works. He also designed a limited edition watch as part of the project.
