Inside stories from the art of obsession
When Rob Moore was asked to curate an exhibition of Northern artists at the Old Parcels Office, he had plenty to choose from including old friend and international artist Clive Head. Catherine Scott reports.
CURATED by the artist and Old Parcels Office trustee Rob Moore, Obsessions brings together work by 15 Northern artists who have dedicated their lives to their art. “With so many brilliant artists working in the North, it has been quite a challenge to restrict the choice down to just 15. My final selection includes work by artists based in Scarborough, Saltburn, Hull, Leeds and North Wales and gives a flavour of the diverse, highquality artwork being made in the region,” says Rob who is exhibiting some of his own and that of his brother in the exhibition which runs in Scarborough from until November 5.
Among them is the acclaimed Clive Head, who lives in the small village of Gristhorpe, near Filey, and always knew he was going to be an artist.
“I was slow at reading but I could always draw well, even from the age of four,” says Head, who was something of a child prodigy and has gone on to show his work in the National Gallery as well as in New York. He believes people are born artists who think differently from other people, although that doesn’t always mean they will become successes.
“Art is not a meritocracy. People can sell paintings just because they are in vogue not necessarily because they are any more talented than someone who doesn’t make it.”
Head’s long career has seen a dramatic evolution of his style, from early work in the tradition of Realism to more recent math-inspired works and in 2005 he was commissioned by the Museum of London to produce a painting of Buckingham Palace to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
Around this time he was diagnosed with a neurological disease that had a devastating effect on his muscles. Despite still suffering from this condition, Head continues painting often as a way to try to block out the pain that he suffers.
His studio in Gristhorpe is stacked with many of his canvases which appear to the untrained eye to be finished paintings but Head is quick to dispel that myth. “I describe many of my new paintings as being in