David Prentice (4 July 1936 – 7 May 2014) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

and former

art teacher Visual arts education is the area of learning that is based upon the kind of art that one can see, visual arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practic ...

. In 1964 he was one of the four founder members of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Ikon Gallery The Ikon Gallery () is an England, English art gallery, gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Listed building, Grade II listed, neo-Gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henr ...

. Prentice's work features in the collections of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, the

Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum located adjacent to Delaware Park, Buffalo, New York, United States. The museum shows modern art and contemporary art. It is directly opposite Buff ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Ashmolean Oxford, Bass Museum Miami, House of Commons Acquisition Committee Westminster, Betty Parsons New York, The Rank Organisation, Miami Dade Community College Miami, Arts Council of Great Britain and many private collections. He is four times winner of the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition – First Prize 1990, Second Prize 1999 and third prizes in 1996 and 2007. He was married to the

quilt art Quilt art, sometimes known as art quilting, mixed media art quilts or fiber art quilts, is an art form that uses both modern and traditional quilting techniques to create art objects. Practitioners of quilt art create it based on their experienc ...

ist Dinah Prentice and since 1990 had lived and worked in Malvern,

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

Biography

Prentice was born in

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

and educated at

Moseley Road Secondary School of Art The Moseley School of Art () on Moseley Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, England was built as the first municipal branch School of Art in Birmingham. The Moseley School of Art was closed by the City of Birmingham Education Committee in 1976. The ...

between 1949 and 1952, and

Birmingham School of Art The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Faculty of Arts, Design a ...

between 1952 and 1957. In 1957 he did

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, returning to the Birmingham School of Art to teach from 1959. Prentice taught at the Faculty of

Birmingham Polytechnic Birmingham City University (abbrev. BCU) is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic in 1971 an ...

between 1971 and 1986, initially in charge the experimental workshop, and has been a visiting artist at

Trent Polytechnic Trent may refer to: Places Australia * Trent, Western Australia, a locality of the Shire of Denmark Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom ...

, the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

, the

Ruskin School The Ruskin School of Art is the Department of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division. History The Ruskin School of Art grew out the Oxford School of Art, which was founded in 1865 and later ...

and the

Birmingham Institute of Art and Design Birmingham City University (abbrev. BCU) is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic in 1971 and gained university status in ...

. - Prentice held solo exhibitions at the

Royal Birmingham Society of Artists The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) is an art society, based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, where it owns and operates an art gallery, the RBSA Gallery, on Brook Street, just off St Paul's Square, Birmingham, St Pa ...

in 1961 and 1963, and in the same year as the second featured in the ''Four Letter Art'' exhibition organised by

Trevor Denning Trevor J. Denning (6 December 1923 – 23 October 2009) was an England, English artist, sculptor, writer, and art teacher who was influential in the Birmingham art community. Biography Denning was born in Moseley, Birmingham, studying paintin ...

. Prentice has since held over forty solo exhibitions. It was at Prentice's 1963 solo exhibition that his painting ''Kate and the Waterlilies'' was bought by Angus Skene for £25, with Prentice delivering the painting to Skene's house in

Selly Oak Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harbor ...

strapped to the side of his

Vespa Vespa () is an Italian brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy, to a ...

scooter. Over the subsequent meal the two discussed the lack of support provided to local artists by Birmingham's existing galleries, and decided to start a new organisation to "invigorate the city with progressive ideas about art". Prentice recruited three fellow artists from the School of Art – Jesse Bruton,

Robert Groves Robert Martin Groves (born September 27, 1948) is an American sociologist and survey methodology expert, currently serving as the interim president of Georgetown University since November 2024. He served as the executive vice president and prov ...

and Sylvani Merilion – and in 1965 the four established the

in a kiosk in Birmingham's Bull Ring. Prentice later said of Ikon's founders: David Prentice had shown his work at John Davies Fine Art, Moreton in Marsh Glos. England in eight solo exhibitions up until 2010 since 1996. He had held solo exhibitions of his work at Mark Barrow Fine Art, Art First London, Anna Mei Chadwick London, Medici Gallery London and Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, Cornwall in the years following 1994 and up to 2008. Exhibitions during July and August 2011 to celebrate his 75th birthday were at John Davies Gallery Moreton in Marsh, Number Nine the Gallery Birmingham and at Monnow Art Centre, Walterstone, Herefordshire.

Biography

References

Further reading