Joe Tilson (artist)

Joe Tilson RA ( born August 24, 1928 in London, UK, lives and works in Cortona, Italy ) is a British painter and printmaker. He is considered an important representative of the British Pop Art.

Life and work

Joe Tilson worked from 1944 to 1946 as a carpenter and furniture maker. He studied from 1949 to the St Martin 's School of Art, and from 1952 to 1955 at the Royal College of Art in London. He won a scholarship to Rome and spent his period from 1955 to 1957.

From 1958 to 1963 he was a teacher at St Martin 's School of Art and at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London. In 1966 he lectured at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. From 1971 to 1972 he was a guest lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg.

Joe Tilson creates typographically composed images, combining visual symbols and terms: "Combination Pictures". In 1961 he participated in the Biennale de Paris. In 1962 he had his first solo exhibition at the Marlborough Gallery in London. In 1968, he was with 12 graphic works and relieves participants of the documenta 4 in Kassel. In the years 1973-1975 major retrospective of his art in Rotterdam and Parma were organized. In 1991 he was appointed a member of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Major awards and honors

Literature and sources

• Exhibition catalog for Documenta IV: IV documentation. International Exhibition; Catalogue: Volume 1: ( painting and sculpture ); Volume 2: (graphics / objects ); Kassel 1968
• Kimpel, Harald / stem, Karin: documenta IV International Exhibition 1968 - A photographic reconstruction ( Series of the documenta - Archives); Bremen 2007, ISBN 978-3-86108-524-9