- Home Exhibition ONLINE TALK: John Walker: Abstraction – A Language Shared
Wednesday 22 March, 12pm, free event
A rare opportunity to join an online discussion event with the internationally renowned artist John Walker, in conversation with a panel of artists and academics exploring the trajectory of Walker’s practice, his inspirations and influences. This event marks the inaugural day of the artist’s exhibition at Messums London which celebrates a significant body of recent paintings, including a dynamic series of seven large scale, predominantly blue and white, canvases all completed in the last year.
Since the 1980s Walker has led a significant narrative on Abstract Art with work that focuses on nature, emotion, and, in particular, place. The impact of his work has resonated for over 50 years with his unique and imaginative painterly language influencing generations of artists.
Suzette McAvoy is an independent curator and arts writer, and museum consultant with more than thirty-five years experience in the field of fine art and museums. A leading authority on the art and artists of Maine, she served as Executive Director and Chief Curator at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) from 2010-2020, where she curated the exhibition John Walker: From Seal Point in 2017.
Prior to her tenure at CMCA, she served 12 years as Chief Curator at the Farnsworth Art Museum. Before moving to Maine, she was Director of the University of Rhode Island Art Galleries, Kingston, Rhode Island, and also worked at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, and the Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. She has served as Adjunct Professor of Museum Studies at the University of Maine, and as a Lecturer for the Smithsonian Journeys Program.
Jonathan Watkins is an independent curator and writer. Previously he was Director of Ikon (1999-2022), Curator of Serpentine Gallery (1995-1997) and Director of Chisenhale Gallery (1990-1995). He has curated a number of large international exhibitions including the Biennale of Sydney (1998), Quotidiana, (Castello di Rivoli, Turin 1999, Tate Triennial (2003), Shanghai Biennale (2006), Sharjah Biennial (2007), Negotiations (Today Art Museum, Beijing 2010), the Guangzhou Triennial (2012) and the Quebec City Biennial (2019).
Jonathan Watkins won the 1992 Prudential Award for the Visual Arts, UK and in 2013 was nominated as one of the top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine. In 2019 he won the inaugural Ampersand Foundation Award to realise the exhibition of his dreams (Carlo Crivelli, 2022).
Vera Möller is a cross-disciplinary visual artist living on the lands of the Boon Wurrung / Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation in Australia.
Möller has exhibited widely both internationally and in Australia. Möller’s work is held in private collections in Australia, China, Japan, UK, USA and Germany, along with the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Australian National Museum, Canberra; Monash University Collection, Melbourne; Latrobe University Collection, Melbourne; Victoria University, Melbourne.
Tom Robinson is an Abstract painter. He attended The Byam Shaw and The Royal Drawing School in London.
Robinson lives and works in Norfolk. He was shortlisted for the the Gilchrist Fisher award in 2010 and the Contemporary British Painting Prize in 2021.
Photo (top): courtesy of Jonathan Watkins