Prof Estelle Thompson
- Professor, Painting
Featured Media
Slade School of Fine Art
University College London
Gower Street
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 Interests
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
I have taught as a visiting and part-time tutor at Universities throughout the UK since the 1980’s including; Birmingham City University; Camberwell College of Arts; Central St Martins College of Art and Design; Chelsea College of Art and Design; De Montfort University; Kingston University; Royal Academy Schools; Royal College of Art; Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art; Sheffield Hallam University; University of the Creative Arts; Wimbledon College of Art and Winchester School of Art. I have also presented artist workshops and lectures at various museums and galleries nationally including; Camden Arts Centre; Serpentine Gallery; The New Art Gallery Walsall; Abbot Hall, Kendal, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester and at art institutions internationally such as Sotheby’s Institute, Christie’s Education, Kuvataideakatemia, Helsinki and Barbados Community College. I have been the External Examiner for Bath Spa University and am currently External Examiner for BA (Hons) Fine Art at Manchester Metropolitan University. I have been part of the selection panel for PhD applications and a PhD supervisor at UCL and Wrexham Glyndwr University. I have been a part-time tutor at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL since 1996 and became a 0.4 FTE Lecturer in 2003. I have taught graduate, undergraduate and PhD levels across painting, photography, sculpture, performance, printmaking, film and video. As a part-time tutor, within the Graduate Painting programme at the Slade I currently lead on the Discourse Project in Graduate Painting, liaising with the Honorary Research Associate. The Discourse Project aims to research the cultural, social and philosophical issues that inform and define the diversity of contemporary painting. The research developed corresponds to aspects of the Graduate Painting programme by focusing on the critical context in which an artist works. I sit on the Slade’s Teaching Committee as the part-time staff representative. In 2011/12 I was responsible for co-programming the Slade Contemporary Art Lectures with the Head of Graduate Painting Lisa Milroy and from 2009-10 I developed a Book Art Group, leading seminars including visits to UCL’s Special Collections archive of rare Artists books. I have organized several of the Graduate Painting student led and shared seminars presented 2009-11 and I have been a selector on the UCL Museums/ Slade student annual collaboration. I also assisted with and contributed to the Group Project’s in Graduate Painting over the last ten years. Projects realised include; Paint to Print (2008), HOT/COLD (2011); Recipe Book (2013); A Stamp Collection (2015) and a Colouring Book (2016). In 2009 I proposed and organized a week long mural painting project and exhibition; Edge to Edge at the Woburn Research Centre with Graduate Painting students.
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
Estelle Thompson: In Deep 2021 - The Brighton Storeroom
Recent Paintings using new materials (including paint formed using volcanic ash) in response to issues of environment, climate change and regional cultural identity within the Caribbean and Latin American region.
Colour Burst & Heartbeat 2021 - John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
beginning 2019 - The Brighton Storeroom
an exhibition of contemporary art by emerging and established artists working in the Caribbean archipelago and its diaspora. the exhibition reflects an open multi-disciplinary curatorial policy but the core focus remains limited print editions and works of art on paper, paintings and ceramics.
In Colours where We Meet 2017 - Ambacher Contemporary, Munich, Germany
A Two-Person exhibition of paintings with Ernesto Canovas considering nurtured influence from teacher to student within the evolution of an individual art practice, focussing on use of colour and process within painting.
Among The Colours:Estelle Thompson & Jo Volley 2017 - North Lodge Gallery, UCL
Two Person exhibition addressing concerns and the history of material colour through the production of two large scale installed wall works.
Imperfect Reverse 2016 - Ruskin Gallery
Research and exhibition questions visual transformation, both temporal and aspectual towards a synthesis of experience
Imperfect Reverse 2016 - Camberwell Space Projects
This research questions visual transformation, and examines an operational shift in working processes, towards a synthesis of experience
Artist of The Day 2016 - Flowers 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 2015 - Austin Forum
The work of several artists explore the psychedelic, scientific and formal associations of the kaleidoscope.
detail 2015 - Usher Gallery
Survey show of extracted detail from works by International group of contemporary painters
White Lies 2014 - Oriel 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) 2014 - Standpoint 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?
Drawn Together Artist as Selector, Jerwood Gallery, Hastings 2014 - Jerwood 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
Small is Beautiful XXI Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue 2014 - Flowers Gallery
Survey painting show, exploring a primary colour palette
Theory and Practice of the Small Painting 2014 - Equator Art Projects
Survey of contemporary artists making small paintings as part of practice
Theory and Practice of Small Painting 2014 - Mo Space
Survey of painters working in small format
detail 2014 - Transition Gallery
Detail survey of contemporary painters paintings
detail 2014 - H-Gallery
contemporary painters/painted details
Head to Head, Rogue Project Space, Manchester 2013 - Rogue 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 2012 - B55 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' 2010 - Quare 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 2010 - Purdy Hicks Gallery, London, UK.
New work by gallery artists.
Calligrams 2010 - Eagle Gallery
Four abstract painters - Jane Bustin, Kevin Finklea, Matt Magee and Estelle Thompson - selected exhibition.
Black and White Flower Painting≅≅≅√ 2010 - Imperial 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 2009 - Purdy 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 2008 - Project Midi, 3 Rue du Rectangle, 1080 Brussels, Belgium
Drawing Breath: 10 Years of the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2008 - Royal West of England Academy, Queen's Road Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1PX
Tipping Point 2008 - Purdy Hicks Gallery, 65 Hopton Street, London, SE1 9GZ
Drawing Breath: 10 Years of the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2007 - National Art School Gallery, National Art School, Forbes St, Darlinghurst, Australia
Drawing Breath: 10 Years of the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2006 - Wimbledon College of Art, Merton Hall Road, London SW19 3QA
Estelle Thompson 2006 - Purdy Hicks, London
Estelle Thompson 'True Colours' 2004 - Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Santa Smiles (Sometimes) 2003 - Ols and Co, London
Hybrid 2003 - Art Space, Imperial College London
Gallery Artists 2003 - Purdy Hicks Gallery, London
Estelle Thompson 2003 - Purdy Hicks Gallery, London
Three from the Royal College of Art, London 2003 - New England School of Art and Design Gallery, 75 Arlington St, Suffolk University, USA
European Contemporary Artists from Purdy Hicks Gallery 2003 - Jane Deering Gallery, Gloucester, Massachussetts, USA
London Original Print Fair 2003 - Royal Academy, London
Purdy Hicks at Art 2003 2003 - Business Design Centre, London
Estelle Thompson and Felim Egan 2001 - Rosenberg and Kaufman Fine Art, New York, USA
Abstract Painting 2001 - Flowers East, London
Being Here: New Paintings by Estelle Thompson 2001 - The New Art Gallery, Walsall
Paintings 2000-2001 2001 - Purdy Hicks Gallery, London
New Work 2000 - Purdy Hicks Gallery, London
Estelle Thompson Recent Paintings 2000 - Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham
Einmal Leiwand, Einmal Papier 2000 - Galerie Helmut Pabst, Frankfurt, Germany
Blue, Borrowed and New 2000 - The New Art Gallery, Walsall
Estelle Thompson: Fuse Paintings 1998 - Usher Gallery, Lincoln and toured to Mead Gallery, Warwick 25 Ap
Estelle Thompson 1997 - Abbot Hall, Kendal
Prints 1997 - Purdy Hicks Gallery, London
Small is Beautiful - Flowers Gallery
An 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.