LONDON.- Bill Jacklin RA: The Graphic Work 1961-2016 presents for the first time a retrospective of over 50 years of Jacklin’s etchings, lithographs, screenprints and monotypes alongside new works created for the exhibition. Inspired by New York, the city to which he moved thirty years ago, British-born artist and Royal Academician Bill Jacklin (b. 1943) takes as his subjects the people, light, movement and atmosphere of the city. This exhibition provides an opportunity to consider his prolific career as a graphic artist and coincides with the publication of Bill Jacklin: Graphics published by RA Publications in May 2016.

The exhibition has been organised chronologically from 1961 to the present day, showcasing Jacklin’s experimental exploration of light and darkness throughout his graphic work. The Tennant Gallery focuses on the period of 1960 to 1980, including Jacklin’s 1977 Anemones suite of etchings which records the transformation of flowers as they shed their leaves. In the Council Room, highlights from 1980 to 2000 include two suites of etchings inspired by Jacklin’s observations of bathers and sunworshipers at Coney Island, together with his 1993 Hong Kong series created as a result of living in the city for a year. Stars and Sea at Night XIII is one of several new monotypes which has been created for the exhibition and hangs alongside works from the last 15 years in the Reynolds Room. Other works in this gallery range from Jacklin’s notable winter and skater scenes in Central Park, to bustling crowds in a study of Grand Central Station where people are dissolved by light and silhouetted against this grand building.

Having initially trained as a graphic artist Jacklin has concentrated on painting since the mid-1970s, but has regularly revisited etching and printmaking. He often challenges himself with new techniques such as aquatint, as well as pushing the boundaries of the expressive potential of his monotypes. He said, “Draftsmanship is the conduit through which I see the world. It is central to the way I work and as a means of expression. The monotypes are often visual experiments running ahead of the paintings that lead me to push the boundaries. Through the process I try to find an equivalent of the energy and light that I see in these subjects. I am always looking for the magic.”

Bill Jacklin RA studied graphic art at Walthamstow School of Art, London, 1960-61 before working as a graphic designer at Studio Seven, London until 1962. He studied painting at the Royal College of Art, London from 1964-1967 and taught at Chelsea School of Art, Hornsey and Royal Colleges of Art until 1975. Jacklin has undertaken many commissions, notably from the Bank of England, the Ivy Restaurant, De Beers and the North Terminal of Washington National Airport. He was elected as a Royal Academician in 1991 and in 1993 was Official Artist-in-Residence for the British Council in Hong Kong. Jacklin lives and works in New York, USA.