The art of colour

As part of the Inside/Out guest lecture series, hosted by the University’s School of Art, Architecture and Design (AAD), David will be using examples of his own two- and three-dimensional work to look at the particular forms of colour that saturate the modern city.

The lunchtime talk, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 12pm on Thursday 10 March at the University’s city centre Rose Bowl building.

The Inside/Out series offers historical, theoretical and critical analyses of the arts, architecture and design, and features ten high profile industry speakers. Professor Simon Morris, organiser of the series, said: “Our aim is to bring the best minds of our generation to inspire and support the work we are doing across the School of AAD and the Faculty of Arts, Environment and Technology at Leeds Beckett.

“We have flown some of the world’s most influential artists to speak to our students, staff, the local community and wider region, including David who has exhibited widely in the UK, continental Europe, the Americas and, more recently, Asia.  His work has featured, amongst others, in the British Art Show at SNGMA in Edinburgh, Tate Britain and Tate Liverpool, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.”

Born in Dundee, Scotland, David now lives in London. He studied Fine Art at Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham, and Cultural Theory at Birmingham University.  His work comprises three-dimensional structures, photographs, paintings and drawings, and mostly relates to a long-term interest in colour and urbanism.  His light box installations use salvaged industrial waste from the streets of London, including trolleys, shelving units, and factory scrap – and transforms them into frames to hold assemblages of neon, perspex and shop front signs.

David is also author of several books on colour theory, including Chromophobia (2000), on colour and the fear of colour in the West, and the more recent The Luminous and the Grey (2014). In addition he has produced two artist’s books, Found Monochromes Vol. 1 (2010), and The October Colouring-In Book (2015).

For full details of all events hosted by Leeds Beckett University go to www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/events.

The full list of talks in the series is:

Dr Gilda Williams, Art Critic, Goldsmiths, University of London. Wednesday 2 March, 1-3pm.

David Batchelor, Artist will be talking about COLOUR Thursday 10 March, 12-2pm.

Kate Briggs, Translator, Paris. Thursday 17 March, 12-2pm.

Jaap Blonk, Sound Poet, the Netherlands. Thursday 7 April, 12-2pm.

Susan Ronald, Author. Thursday 14 April, 12-2pm.