Tilson 2002

Joe Tilson (b. 1928), one of Britain's leading artists, is renowned for his paintings, prints, and wooden constructions; his recent work explores the significance of words and images through vibrant colors and graphics.This retrospective book spans Tilson's entire career, from the 1960s to the present. Tilson belongs to the generation of British artists who include David Hockney, Peter Blake, and Frank Auerbach. Though he created some of the most iconic images of the British Pop Art movement, in the late 1960s, disenchanted with mechanical means of production, he began making handmade constructions from wood and metal, drawing inspiration from varied sources such as the four elements, classical mythology, and Alchera, the dream time of Australian Aboriginals. He returned to painting in the 1980s, creating totemic works that search for the beyond and the elsewhere. His work is explored here in an incisive essay by art critic Mel Gooding.