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WILLIAM
SPARKSMAN 14 MAY - 26 JUNE 2010 preview Thursday 13th May 6-8pm meet the artist at the Late Shows - Saturday 15th May 7.30-10pm
NEWCASTLE ARTS CENTRE .WESTGATE ROAD MON-SAT 9-5
William is fully engaged in his fine
art practise both as artist and as lecturer at Newcastle
These fragmented moments like a patchwork of ideas are stitched together with words. His paintings are based on remembered traces of occurrences and happenings, abstracted landscapes with elements of the English tradition of “echoed moments” of past times almost a reverberation of poignant moments. William Sparksman was born in Suffolk into an artistic background. Both his parents studied and taught within the arts and his father drew and painted within a studio in the house. A formative memory remains of paint, smoke and the slow burning tortoise stove in the corner of the room, bundles of coloured pencils and chalks, erasers, masking tape and brushes in tin cans, jars and paint strewn palettes lay around the bulk of an old fashioned wind up easel. Piles of books, magazines and junk lay waiting to be converted into poetry.
Inevitably perhaps, William Sparksman studied art, firstly under Bob Hosea at the Lowestoft College in Suffolk during his foundation period and then on to Chelsea School of Art, part of the University of the Arts, in London to study on the B.A (hons) Fine Art Painting Degree course. Whilst studying for his degree, Sparksman practiced painting, sculpture and installation in the free structure of Chelsea’s Art School learning environment. This practical studio time was balanced with tutorials with both Lecturers and visiting Artists and also participation in lecture series and theory programmes which helped to shape his ethos and understanding of the arts. These included the now infamous ‘Plastic Theory’ series on the work of Joseph Beuys and Arte Povera and also the ‘Shaping of the Modern Painter’ art history series. Guided by the tuition of the renowned British Artist Roger Ackling, his sensibilities and understanding of the innate relationship of internalised thoughts becoming physical manifestations, whether that be painting or sculpture, began to develop. After gaining his degree, Sparksman went on to make work in galleries, colleges and various studio spaces around the capital and so took this as an opportunity to develop connections within the art world and a greater understanding of life as a practicing artist. After five years in London and a brief sojourn as a champion beach swimmer and carpenters mate back home in Suffolk, Sparksman relocated to Newcastle, where artist talks and exhibitions soon led to other avenues and challenges.
Currently practicing at a studio on the North East coast, William Sparksman is engaged with making the process of drawing and painting using visual imagery cropped and collected over time in sketchbooks and journals before being transferred to paper or canvas. These images are built from memories of the near past and the fictional narratives which sometimes spring from meditations upon those thought patterns and the visual accumulation of time and space passing. Landscape and memory, lo-fi pop culture, the beauty of language and visual sparring come together to create textural collage, delicate drawing, rich painting and dream-like constructions. A sense of the search for self on a peripheral landscape caught between two points.
William Sparksman is currently a Lecturer in Fine Art at Newcastle College.
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LATE SHOWS - SATURDAY 15TH MAY
Enjoy a Very Special Evening From 7.30 pm
5 FREE EVENTS @ Newcastle Arts Centre Black Cab Cabaret in the Black Swan - underground venue Umber - 4 Printmakers at 67b Westgate Bob Lee animated movie at 71, Westgate - presented by The Moving Gallery Will Sparksman in person in the Gallery Dave Fry and friends in the Pottery Studio
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