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Welcome to our Artist of the Month feature for October, and congratulations to Bill Jackson for being our selected artist.
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Hi Bill - can you tell us a little about yourself, and how you got started as a photographer?
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I went to art school in the early 1970’s and my Foundation year was very conceptual. I did it at Coventry School of Art, which in the 1960’s and 70’s was a powerhouse of British art, especially Conceptual Art and Art and Language. This was a fantastic change from school and A levels.
Initially I was interested in sculpture and filmmaking. I wanted to do film but there were no film courses so I choose to do my degree at Coventry in Graphic Design, as they ‘owned’ the film unit. They also had one of the biggest photographic departments in the country. I spent three years fighting to spend all my time in those two places.
I eventually ended up in teaching photography, filmmaking and multi media in art schools for the next 25 years. Since 1985 I have been working with digital technologies, initially with HyperCard installations and then got into the web in the mid 90’s, developing projects on line. After 20 years working with on screen projects I returned to the print medium at the same time I was diagnosed with cancer. The result of two major operations was the photomontages called ‘Morphenia’. These were montages made from up to 200 separately scanned objects ( I had developed this method back in the late 1980’s when there were no digital cameras ). Each final image was hand finished in gold leaf. Since then I have retired from education and work from my studio in London.
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What are you favourite subjects to photograph?
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My life long interest in sculpture is now evident in my current works. I make things and then take pictures of them. My prints are now becoming larger in size so they are an important part of the process.
I am considering over the next couple of years to create larger scale pieces in print, which reflect my interest in objects and landscapes. The most recent works, which were shot in Suffolk, where I am spending more and more time, are an indication of where I maybe headed. I do not go out and look for photographs. My conceptual art education has always influenced my creative methodologies. I initially have certain questions and ideas, which I use a camera to solve and explore.
In that sense I find it difficult to call myself a photographer in the way one thinks about what photographers do. But I use photography, as I love the whole concept of recording information through a camera.
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Do you have any advice for aspiring artists and photographers, or for those new to art?
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I have spent most of my life as a professional artist / photographer and was very lucky to be picked up very early on in my career by the Photographers Gallery in London until I decided to abandoned the print in the mid 80‘s and went off for 20 years into a ‘virtual’ landscape. Finding people to support your work, not necessarily financially but with critical appraisal is absolutely essential.
There are more opportunities especially with websites like artfair365 to promote works. It’s never been better. Technology has changed how we do and promote art practice. But the key really is networking. You do need to see the right people. Be humble. Listen to their advice. Get the work out there. My first show was at a local library and within three years I was exhibiting all over the world. I have always been grateful that others find an interest in my work. Where else can a madman get paid?
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What do you hope people see in your work?
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This is an interesting one as we are never sure what people really think or even see in what we do. But it’s about making connections. Someone once said that a series of pictures I did on beaches looked like we had just been given the 3 min warning. This was very perceptive in a way.
I hope that people go beyond the image and see connections that even I have not seen. All art has reference points and it’s a joy to discover them. There has always been a slight edge to what I do. I don’t seek it out it just comes through. The fact that somebody else gets it and enjoys my obsessions is a bonus.
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Who are your favourite artists or photographers, and are there any works in particular which have inspired you?
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Oh what a list this could be. I am influenced by so much and not only art. But favourite artists would have to include Andy Goldsworthy, Richard Long, Francis Bacon, the Becher’s, Minor White, Lee Friedlander, John Heartfield, Dianne Arbus, Tony Ray Jones, Mickey Mouse, John Ford, John Coltraine, Pete Townshend….. the list is endless.
Films and painting influence me more than photography, most of which I feel unconnected with. I am also influenced in some part by words, especially those written by Camus and Borges. Music is always playing when I work, so that may have an effect as well.
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What painting, photograph or work of art do you wish you had produced?
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Any Francis Bacon piece, especially the Pope series.
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Apart from your portfolio at artfair365.co.uk, how do you promote your work - are you a member of any societies, and do you have any exhibitions planned?
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I have my own website which I did myself a couple years ago having made art sites for many others, I thought it was about time I did one for myself. It has changed many times but part of doing it was to catalogue my work. This became crucial when I got ill as my wife and family would have no real record of what I had done if things had turned out differently. It was also good for me to use that time to review my creative path. I am also a member of several other art websites. Recently I became a member of the London Independent Photographers and the Royal Photographic Society and I am on the committee of the RPS Contemporary Photography Group, which is great for chatting about stuff and the RPS put on some great conferences. I edit an arts magazine for Warwickshire artists called ‘artspace’. I founded this as an art newsletter for a local arts group and it is now one of the longest running independent, unfunded printed art journals around. All the writers are artists themselves.
At the moment I have some work in an international photographic show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Fort Collins in Colorado in the states, I am in a show called Snap to the Grid 2007 at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Arts and will be in the LIP 19th exhibition in London. This last year has seen my work mainly going abroad to the USA, to Argentina and Europe and I won a big digital art prize for ‘The Dinner Party’ from Toray Industries in Japan. It’s nice to know that something as ‘gothic’ and bizarre as this made sense to the Japanese. I have a big show in Ireland in 2008.
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From your own portfolio, which are your favourite 3 artworks?
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Well this week my favourite pieces have got to be whatever I am working on. I never dwell on the past or past works. Yes they are there but I am always moving forward, sometimes too quick to see where I have been. I am particularly pleased with some of the stuff coming out of Suffolk. I am constantly drawn to this area of the UK. We go up there as often as we can and I am getting excited about what I can do out there on a larger scale. Maybe I will have my studio there one day?
1. House Suffolk – I was reminded of the house in Psycho except the land is flat. It was taken in a place called Orfordness, the atomic research station.
2. Silos Suffolk – I have been experimenting in my studio on tall structures and I was very taken by amount of ‘tall’ structures in the landscape of Suffolk, isolated and very bleak. There was a connection between these silos, water towers etc to the work I was doing in the studio.
3. Gallows Suffolk – In my studio I have a rig like this to suspend paper and objects on. If I ever a studio in Suffolk I will build one of these so I can hang bigger things.
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Click here to view Bill's portfolio.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for September - Maureen Greenwood.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for August - Cinzia Castellano.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for July - John Bird.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for June - Anthony Caruana.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for May - Clem Spencer.
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