Ian Stephenson: È un Punto di Partenza (It Is a Starting Point)
CHELSEA space
Ian Stephenson: È un Punto di Partenza (It is a Starting Point)
Chelsea Space
Private View: 12 November 6-8:30pm
Exhibition Continues: 13 November – 13 December 2019
For the final exhibition of 2019, Chelsea Space presents a solo show of the work of Ian Stephenson. A highly influential artist of the sixties and seventies, Stephenson was known for his abstract paintings constructed from thousands of tiny dots of paint, each mark distinctive to the eye, gradually layered to form larger areas of density and depth that floated over surfaces, whether canvas or paper.
A former tutor on the MA painting course at Chelsea School of Art, (1959-89), Stephenson studied under Sir Lawrence Gowing at Kings College Newcastle (1951-56), to become a Studio Demonstrator on the ‘Basic Course’, the now iconic experiment in art education founded by the artists Victor Pasmore and Richard Hamilton. In turn, Stephenson’s teaching methods influenced the careers of a younger generation of artists including Sean Scully, Christopher Le Brun PRA, Patrick Caulfield, Helen Chadwick, Rita Donagh, James Latter, Michael Moon, Mali Morris and James Hugonin.
This exhibition focuses on a series of collages by Stephenson, commenced when travelling through Italy, in 1959 on a Boise Scholarship with his wife Kate Brown, a fellow student. The works, selected by Kate, reflect the influences they both experienced abroad, and the transitions they would then make into their adult careers, as artists, and educators.
