Clyde Hopkins at The Dock Museum

Panhandle Painting: A Retrospective

18th June - 28th August

This exhibition, looking back at the life and work of Clyde Hopkins, has been selected from paintings in the artist’s own collection. We would like to thank Marilyn Hallam for her generosity in loaning the work.

“You would expect a body of work, created over a span more than forty years, to display a pattern of development from early attempts, to the mature output where an artist’s ‘signature style’ has fully evolved and is then consolidated. But the paintings of Clyde Hopkins seem to resist this schematic interpretation. Those from the late seventies and early eighties are stylistically different to those produced in the late eighties. Another change occurs in the nineties and from 2008 or thereabouts the paintings seem to take on characteristics almost the opposite of those to be found in work from earlier in his career. So, instead of one signature style, there are several.

Each of these signature styles is fully resolved and sufficient, rather than marking an evolutionary stage in an ongoing narrative.”

Clyde Hopkins: A path through dark and light © David Sweet

Clyde Hopkins was born in East Sussex in 1946, moving with his family to Barrow-in-Furness when he was 11. He attended Barrow grammar school and then studied Fine Art at the University of Reading in the 1960’s where he met his future wife, the painter, Marilyn Hallam. He exhibited internationally for over forty years and taught in many art colleges and universities. In 1982 he was appointed Head of Painting at Winchester School of Art. He moved to Chelsea College of Art in 1990 and was made an Emeritus Professor after leaving in 2006.

As a painter and an educator Clyde had a profound and lasting influence on all those around him - an influence which continues to be assessed with his inclusion in the Tate Collection in 2020, and solo shows in Barrow, Deal, London and New York in 2022 and 2023. As the weight and significance of his work is brought to light through exhibition and publication, it becomes increasingly clear that his contribution to contemporary painting, and British abstraction in particular, was extraordinary.

A retrospective exhibition curated by Greg Rook.

SEAGULLS , BRIAN SEWELL , KICKING ETC.

An exhibition of painting by Clyde Hopkins (1946 – 2018)

2nd – 23rd April 2022 at Linden Hall Studio

“At Linden Hall Studio we have been delighted and honoured to show the work of Clyde Hopkins over a number of years. The work always resonates and arrests our audience whenever they pass through the gallery, and to have a vibrant and varied exhibition of his painting is a pleasure to work with and a pleasure to show. When we open our doors and the viewers turn at the top of the stairs to see the show, I can pre-empt what the majority instantly respond ; ‘Wow. That’s definitely a Clyde Hopkins.’ What a great legacy to have left, and a privilege for us to play a part in its continuation’

- Myles Corley, Gallery Director, Linden Hall Studio

‘The elements in Hopkins’ work seem to come from strikingly different, even contradictory, traditions, as if he is seeking to cover extremes of expressive language, rather than occupy a unified middle ground. The juxtaposition produces a peculiarly complementary effect, as though two implacable opposed artistic visions had collided in the same work. The result is an increase in intensity so great that the contents of the painting seem to pass through a tangible ordeal, a sort of visual pain barrier, which strips them of lyrical compromise, and aesthetic consolation and delivers, in the place of these lesser pleasures, the unmistakable rewards of serious poetry.” – David Sweet, 1996

Clyde Hopkins was born in East Sussex in 1946, moving with his family to Cumbria when he was eleven. He studied Fine Art at the University of Reading in the 1960s where he met his future wife, the painter, Marilyn Hallam. He exhibited work for over forty years, produced in studios in Greenwich, Deptford and St Leonards.

Group exhibitions at public venues throughout the UK and Europe include the Hayward, the Whitechapel, the Axiom, the Bede, MOMA Ox-ford, the Royal Academy, John Holden Manchester, Stephen Lawrence Greenwich, Hastings Museum and Art galleries. Many private galleries have also exhibited his work. He was awarded the Mark Rothko Memorial Fellowship (USA) in 1980-81 and in 1999 the Lorne Award. His work is in public and private collections in the UK and North America. He taught in many art colleges and universities and in 1982 was appointed Head of Painting at Winchester School of Art. He moved to Chelsea College of Art in 1990 and was made an Emeritus Professor after leaving in 2006.

Linden Hall Studio, 32 St Georges Road, Deal, Kent CT14 6BA

Tuesday – Saturday

10am till 4pm

For further information please contact:

info@lindenhallstudio.co.uk

01304 360411