Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English

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 ...

, film maker,

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costum ...

stage designer Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, where it may be referred to as prod ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...

, and

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

activist.

Biography

Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home in Northwood,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, England, the son of Elizabeth Evelyn (''née'' Puttock) and Lancelot Elworthy Jarman. His father was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

officer, born in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

After a prep school education at Hordle House School, Jarman went on to board at Canford School in Dorset and from 1960 studied English and art at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. This was followed by four years at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(UCL), starting in 1963. From 1966-1969 he rented a two-room flat on the top floor of 60

Liverpool Road Liverpool Road is a street in Islington, North London. It covers a distance of between Islington High Street and Holloway Road, running roughly parallel to Upper Street through the area of Barnsbury. It contains several attractive Terraced ho ...

, London, sharing rooms during the last year with fellow artist Keith Milow. In August 1969, he moved to Upper Ground, opposite

Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple C ...

, the first of a series of warehouses on the river front. In his own words: "an exhilarating change after seven years in cramped Georgian terrace houses and basements .the warehouse allowed me to slip quietly away from the 'scene' which for five years had been the centre of my life – and had now exhausted itself – and establish my own idiosyncratic mode of living". In the 1970s, he had a studio at

Butler's Wharf Butler's Wharf is an England, English historic building at Shad Thames on the south bank of the River Thames, just east of London's Tower Bridge, now housing luxury flats and restaurants. Lying between Shad Thames and the Thames Path, it overl ...

. Jarman was outspoken about homosexuality, his public fight for

, and his personal struggle with AIDS. On 22 December 1986, Jarman was diagnosed as

HIV positive The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of th ...

and discussed his condition in public. His illness prompted him to move to Prospect Cottage,

Dungeness Dungeness (, ) is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the ham ...

, in Kent, near the

nuclear power station A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

. In 1994, he died of an AIDS-related illness in London, aged 52. He was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. He is buried in the graveyard at St Clement's Church,

Old Romney Old Romney is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. The village, as its name suggests, is the original site of the settlement, and is situated two miles (3.2 km) inland from New Romney. It lies ...

, Kent. In his last years, Jarman was emotionally and practically supported by the companionship of Keith Collins (1963–2018), a young man whom he had met in 1987. While they were not lovers (Collins had his own partner), the friendship became essential for both of them. Jarman left Prospect Cottage to him. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

commemorating Jarman was unveiled at Butler's Wharf in London on 19 February 2019, the 25th anniversary of his death.

Films

Jarman's first films were experimental Super 8mm shorts, a form he never entirely abandoned, and later developed further in his films ''Imagining October'' (1984), '' The Angelic Conversation'' (1985), '' The Last of England'' (1987), and '' The Garden'' (1990) as a parallel to his narrative work. ''The Garden'' was entered into the 17th Moscow International Film Festival. ''The Angelic Conversation'' featured Toby Mott and other members of the Grey Organisation, a radical artist collective. Jarman first became known as a stage designer. His break in the film industry came as production designer for

Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films were mainly liberal adaptations of ...

's '' The Devils'' (1971). He made his mainstream narrative filmmaking debut with '' Sebastiane'' (1976), about the martyrdom of

Saint Sebastian Sebastian (; ) was an early Christianity, Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this d ...

. This was one of the first British films to feature positive images of gay

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

; its dialogue was entirely in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. He followed this with ''

Jubilee A jubilee is often used to refer to the celebration of a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term comes from the Hebrew Bible (see, "Old Testament"), initially concerning ...

'' (shot 1977, released 1978), in which Queen

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

is seen to be transported forward in time to a desolate and brutal wasteland ruled by her twentieth-century namesake. ''Jubilee'' has been described as "Britain's only decent punk film", and featured punk groups and figures such as

Jayne County Jayne County (born Wayne Rogers) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, record producer, and visual artist whose career has spanned six decades. Under the name Wayne County (inspired by Wayne County, Michigan), she was the vocalist of infl ...

of Wayne County & the Electric Chairs,

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Toyah Willcox Toyah Ann Willcox (born 18 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter, actress, and television presenter. In a career spanning more than 40 years, she has had eight top 40 singles, released over 20 albums, written two books, appeared in over 40 ...

Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants were an English Rock music, rock band that formed in London in 1977. The band existed in two versions, both fronted by Adam Ant, between 1977 and 1982. The first phase began when the band were founded in May 1977 and were call ...

and The Slits. This was followed in 1979 by an adaptation of Shakespeare's ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

''. During the 1980s, Jarman was a leading campaigner against

Section 28 Section 28 refers to a part of the Local Government Act 1988, which stated that Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with t ...

, which sought to ban the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools. He also worked to raise awareness of AIDS. His artistic practice in the early 1980s reflected these commitments, especially in '' The Angelic Conversation'' (1985), a film in which the imagery is accompanied by

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage ...

's voice reciting

Shakespeare's sonnets William Shakespeare (1565 –1616) wrote sonnets on a variety of themes. When discussing or referring to Shakespeare's sonnets, it is almost always a reference to the 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto in 1609. Howe ...

. Jarman spent seven years making experimental Super 8mm films and attempting to raise money for ''

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

'' (he later claimed to have rewritten the script seventeen times during this period). Released in 1986, ''Caravaggio'' attracted a comparatively wide audience; it is still, barring the cult hit ''Jubilee'', probably Jarman's most widely known work. This is partly due to the involvement, for the first time with a Jarman film, of the British television company

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in funding and distribution. Funded by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

and produced by film theorist

Colin MacCabe Colin Myles Joseph MacCabe (born 9 February 1949) is an English academic, writer and film producer. He is currently a distinguished professor of English and film at the University of Pittsburgh.

, ''Caravaggio'' became Jarman's most famous film to date, and marked the beginning of a new phase in his filmmaking career: from then onwards, all his films would be partly funded by television companies, often receiving their most prominent exhibition in TV screenings. ''Caravaggio'' also saw Jarman work with actress Tilda Swinton for the first time. Overt depictions of homosexual love, narrative ambiguity, and the live representations of

's most famous paintings are all prominent features in the film. The conclusion of ''Caravaggio'' also marked the beginning of a temporary abandonment of traditional narrative in Jarman's films. Frustrated by the formality of 35mm film production, and by the dependence on institutions and the resultant prolonged inactivity associated with it (which had already cost him seven years with ''Caravaggio'', as well as derailing several long-term projects), Jarman returned to and expanded the super 8mm-based form he had previously worked in on ''Imagining October'' and ''The Angelic Conversation''. ''Caravaggio'' was entered into the

36th Berlin International Film Festival The 36th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held 14–25 February 1986. The festival opened with '' Ginger and Fred'' by Federico Fellini, which played out of competition at the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to West German ...

, where it won the

Silver Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

for an outstanding single achievement. The first film to result from this new semi-narrative phase, ''The Last of England'' told the death of a country, ravaged by its own internal decay and the economic restructuring of Thatcher's government. "Wrenchingly beautiful … the film is one of the few commanding works of personal cinema in the late 80's – a call to open our eyes to a world violated by greed and repression, to see what irrevocable damage has been wrought on city, countryside and soul, how our skies, our bodies, have turned poisonous", wrote a ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'' critic. In 1989, Jarman's film '' War Requiem'' produced by

Don Boyd Donald William Robertson Boyd (born 11 August 1948) is a Scottish film director, producer, screenwriter and novelist. He was a Governor of the London Film School until 2016 and in 2017 was made an Honorary Professor in the College of Humaniti ...

brought

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

out of retirement for what would be Olivier's last screen performance. The film uses

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

's eponymous anti-war requiem as its soundtrack and juxtaposes violent footage of war with the mass for the dead and the passionate humanist poetry of

Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen Military Cross, MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of Trench warfare, trenches and Chemi ...

. During the making of his film '' The Garden'', Jarman became seriously ill. Although he recovered sufficiently to complete the work, he never attempted anything on a comparable scale afterwards, returning to a more pared-down form for his concluding narrative films, '' Edward II'' (perhaps his most politically outspoken work, informed by his gay activism) and the Brechtian ''

Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...

'', a delicate tragicomedy based on the life of the philosopher

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...

. Jarman directed

music videos A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for various artists, including

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...

The Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

and the

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

. By the time of his 1993 film ''

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

'', Jarman was losing his sight and dying of AIDS-related complications. ''Blue'' consists of a single shot of saturated blue colour filling the screen, as background to a soundtrack composed by Simon Fisher Turner, and featuring original music by Coil and other artists, in which Jarman describes his life and vision. When it was shown on British television,

carried the image whilst the soundtrack was broadcast simultaneously on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. ''Blue'' was unveiled at the 1993 Venice Biennale with Jarman in attendance and subsequently entered the collections of the Walker Art Institute;

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

MoMA 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 ...

and

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

. His final work as a film-maker was the film '' Glitterbug'', made for the ''

Arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

'' slot on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

, and broadcast shortly after Jarman's death.

Other works

Jarman's work broke new ground in creating and expanding the fledgling form of "the pop video" in England (eg. using his father's

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

archival footage (one of the first people to use a colour

home movie A home movie is a short amateur film or video typically made just to preserve a visual record of family activities, a vacation, or a special event, and intended for viewing at home by family and friends. Originally, home movies were made on ph ...

camera which included the director as a toddler) on the early version of Wang Chung's " Dance Hall Days"), and in

activism. Jarman also directed the 1989 tour by

. By pop concert standards, this was a highly theatrical event, with costume and specially shot films accompanying the individual songs. Jarman was the stage director of Sylvano Bussotti's opera '' L'Ispirazione'', first staged in Florence in 1988. Jarman is also remembered for his shingle cottage-garden at Prospect Cottage, created in the latter years of his life, in the shadow of Dungeness nuclear power station. The cottage is built in vernacular style in timber, with tar-based weatherproofing, like others nearby. Raised wooden text on the side of the cottage is the first stanza and the last five lines of the last stanza of

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

's 1633 poem, '' The Sun Rising''. The cottage garden was made by arranging flotsam washed up nearby, interspersed with

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

salt-loving beach plants, both set against the bright shingle. The garden has been the subject of several books. At this time, Jarman also began painting again. In 2020 the

Garden Museum The Garden Museum (formerly known as the Museum of Garden History) in London is Britain's only museum of the art, history and design of gardens. The museum re-opened in 2017 after an 18-month redevelopment project. The building is largely the ...

in London held an exhibition calle
"Derek Jarman: my Garden's Boundaries are the Horizon"
parts of the garden and Prospect Cottage were recreated for the exhibition as well as artifacts from Jarman's estate. Jarman was the author of several books including his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

''Dancing Ledge'' (1984), which details his life until the age 40. He provides his own insight on the history of gay life in London (1960s-1980s), discusses his own acceptance of his homosexuality at age 16 and accounts of the financial and emotional hardships of a life devoted to filmmaking. A collection of poetry ''A Finger in the Fishes Mouth'', two volumes of diaries ''Modern Nature'' and ''Smiling In Slow Motion'' and two treatises on his work in film and art ''The Last of England'' (also published as ''Kicking the Pricks'') and ''Chroma''. Other notable published works include film scripts (''Up in the Air'', ''Blue'', ''War Requiem'', ''Caravaggio'', ''Queer Edward II'' and ''Wittgenstein: The Terry Eagleton Script/The Derek Jarman Film''), a study of his garden at Dungeness ''Derek Jarman's Garden'', and ''At Your Own Risk'', a defiant celebration of gay sexuality.

Musical tributes

After his death, the band Chumbawamba released "Song for Derek Jarman" in his honour. Andi Sexgang released the CD ''Last of England'' as a Jarman tribute. The ambient experimental album ''The Garden Is Full of Metal'' by Robin Rimbaud included Jarman speech samples.

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Wales, Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, le ...

' bassist Nicky Wire recorded a track titled "Derek Jarman's Garden" as a

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to his single " Break My Heart Slowly" (2006). On his album ''In the Mist'', released in 2011, ambient composer

Harold Budd Harold Montgomory Budd (May 24, 1936December 8, 2020) was an American music composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles and raised in the Mojave Desert, he became a respected composer in the minimal music and avant-garde scene of Southern California ...

features a song titled "The Art of Mirrors (after Derek Jarman)". Coil, which in 1985 contributed a soundtrack for Jarman's '' The Angelic Conversation'' released the 7" single "Themes for Derek Jarman's Blue" in 1993. In 2004, Coil's

Peter Christopherson Peter Martin Christopherson (also known as Sleazy; 27 February 1955 – 25 November 2010) was an English musician, video director, commercial artist, designer and photographer, who was at one time a member of design agency Hipgnosis. He also ...

performed his score for the Jarman short ''The Art of Mirrors'' as a tribute to Jarman live at L'étrange Festival in Paris. In 2015, record label Black Mass Rising released a recording of the performance. In 2018, composer Gregory Spears created a work for chorus and string quartet, titled "The Tower and the Garden", commissioned by conductors Donald Nally, Mark Shapiro, Robert Geary and Carmen-Helena Téllez, setting a poem by Keith Garebian from his collection "Blue: The Derek Jarman Poems" (2008). The French musician and composer Romain Frequency released his first album ''Research on a nameless colour'' in 2020 as a tribute to Jarman's final collection of Essays “Chroma” released in 1994, the year he died and written while struggling with illness (facing the irony of an artist going blind). The songs are devoted to an unexisting colour and their attendant emotion as a transposition of a certain contemplative state into sound. The album received a positive response from the press. At the time of his death, Jarman was slated to direct the

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart w ...

music video for "Every Time We Say Goodbye" from her '' Red Hot + Blue'' project (1990). As a tribute, the video features family film footage of Jarman's childhood.

Filmography

Feature films

* '' Sebastiane'' (1976) * ''

'' (1978) * ''

'' (1979) * '' The Angelic Conversation'' (1985) * ''

'' (1986) * '' The Last of England'' (1987) * '' War Requiem'' (1989) * '' The Garden'' (1990) * '' Edward II'' (1991) * ''

'' (1993) * ''

'' (1993)

Short films

* ''Studio Bankside'' (1971) * ''Electric Fairy'' (1971) * ''A Journey to Avebury'' (1971) * ''Garden of Luxor'' (aka ''Burning the Pyramids'' 1972) * ''Burning the Pyramids'' (1972) * ''Miss Gaby'' (1972) * ''Andrew Logan Kisses the Glitterati'' (1972) * ''At Low Tide'' (1972) * ''Tarot'' (aka ''the Magician'', 1972) * ''Art of Mirrors'' (1973) * ''Sulphur'' (1973) * ''Stolen Apples for Karen Blixen'' (1973) * ''Ashden's Walk on Møn'' (1973) * ''Miss World'' (1973) * ''The Devils at the Elgin'' (aka ''Reworking the Devils'', 1974) * ''Fire Island'' (1974) * ''Duggie Fields'' (1974) * '' In the Shadow of the Sun'' (1974) (in 1981,

Throbbing Gristle Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti, later joined by Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson and Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pioneers of in ...

was commissioned to provide a new soundtrack for this 54-minute film) * ''Ulla's Fete'' (aka ''Ulla's Chandelier'', 1975) * ''Picnic at Ray's'' (1975) * ''Sebastiane Wrap'' (1975) * ''The Making of Sebastiane'' (1975) * ''Sea of Storms'' (1976) * ''Sloane Square: A Room of One's Own'' (1976) * ''Gerald's Film'' (1976) * ''Art and the Pose'' (1976) * ''Houston Texas'' (1976) * ''Jordan's Dance'' (1977) * ''Every Woman for Herself and All for Art'' (1977) * ''The Pantheon'' (1978) * ''T.G.: Psychic Rally in Heaven'' (1981) * ''Jordan's Wedding'' (1981) * ''Waiting for Waiting for Godot'' (1982) * ''Pontormo and Punks at Santa Croce'' (1982) * ''B2 Tape'' (1983) * ''The Dream Machine'' (1983) (Consists of multiple short vignettes of previous works) ** ''Witches Song'' (1979) ** ''Broken English'' (1979) ** ''Ballad Of Lucy Jordan'' (1979) ** ''Pirate Tape'' (1983) ** ''T.G.: Psychic Rally In Heaven'' (1981). * ''Imagining October'' (1984) * ''Pirate Tape ( William S. Burroughs Film)'' (1987) * ''

Aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

'' (1987) **segment: ''Depuis le Jour'' * ''L'Ispirazione'' (1988) * ''Coil: Egyptian Basses'' (1993) *''The Clearing'' (1994) * ''Glitterbug'' (1994) (one-hour compilation film of various Super-8 shorts with music by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

) * ''Will You Dance With Me?'' (2014) (filmed in 1984 but released posthumously) Jarman's early Super-8 mm work has been included on some of the DVD releases of his films.

Music videos

The Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

: ''The Sex Pistols Number One'' (1977) *

: " Broken English", "Witches' Song", and "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" (1979) *

: "TG Psychic Rally in Heaven" (1981) *

The Lords of the New Church The Lords of the New Church were a British-American rock music, rock band. A Supergroup (music), supergroup, the line-up originally consisted of four musicians from 1970s punk rock, punk bands. This line-up comprised vocalist Stiv Bators (ex-th ...

: "Dance With Me" (1983) * Carmel: "Willow Weep for Me" (1983) * Wang Chung: " Dance Hall Days" (first version) (1983) *

Psychic TV Psychic TV (aka PTV or Psychick TV or several other aliases) were an English experimental music, experimental video art and music collective, formed by performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish musician Alex Fergusson (musician), Alex ...

Jordi Valls: "Catalan" (1984) * Language: "Touch The Radio Dance" (1984) (shown at 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 ...

in New York City) * Wide Boy Awake Billy Hyena (1984) *

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As ...

: "What Presence?!" (1984) *

Marc Almond Peter Mark Almond (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist of the synth-pop/ new wave duo Soft Cell. He has a distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He has had a diverse career as a ...

: "Tenderness Is a Weakness" (1984) *

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...

: "Windswept" (1985) *

: ** ''The Queen Is Dead'', a short film incorporating the Smiths songs " The Queen Is Dead", "

Panic Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety, uncertainty and frantic agitation consistent with a fight-or-flight reaction. ...

", and " There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (1986) ** The "Panic" sequence from ''The Queen Is Dead'' was edited to form the video for that single (1986) ** " Ask" (1986) *

Easterhouse Easterhouse is a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, east of the Glasgow city centre, city centre on land gained from the county of Lanarkshire as part of an expansion of Glasgow before the Second World War. The area is on high ground north of the Ri ...

: "1969" and "Whistling in the Dark" (1986) * Matt Fretton: "Avatar" (unreleased) (1986) *

The Mighty Lemon Drops The Mighty Lemon Drops were an English rock group active from 1985 to 1992. Biography Originally called the Sherbet Monsters, the quartet first formed in the spring of 1985 in Wolverhampton, in the Black Country. Paul Marsh, Dave Newton and ...

"Out of Hand" (1987) *

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part ...

: "I Cry Too" and "In The Pouring Rain" (1987) *

: " It's a Sin" (1987), " Rent" (1987), several concert projections (released as ''Projections'' in 1993), and "

Violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

" (1995) *

Suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, Textile, fabrics, Handbag, purses, furniture, and other items. Suede is made from the underside of the animal skin, which is softer and m ...

: " The Next Life" (1993) *

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

: "Memorial Tribute" (1993)

Scenic design

* '' Jazz Calendar'' at Covent Garden.From the programme to the production of ''

Waiting for Godot ''Waiting for Godot'' ( or ) is a 1953 play by Irish writer and playwright Samuel Beckett, in which the two main characters, Vladimir (Waiting for Godot), Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), engage in a variety of discussions and encounters w ...

'' * ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'' at the Coliseum * '' The Devils'', directed by

* '' Savage Messiah'', directed by Ken Russell * ''

The Rake's Progress ''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings '' A Rake's Prog ...

'', directed by Ken Russell in Florence * ''

'' by

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

at the Queen's Theatre in the West End

Bibliography

* ''Dancing Ledge'' (1984) * ''Kicking the Pricks'' (1987) * ''Modern Nature: Journals, 1989–1990'' (1991) * ''At Your Own Risk'' (1992) * ''Chroma'' (1993) * ''A Finger in the Fishes Mouth'', poetry (1972; 2014; 2024) * ''Derek Jarman's Garden'' (1995) * ''Smiling in Slow Motion: Journals, 1991–1994'' (2000) * ''Through The Billboard Promised Land Without Ever Stopping'' (2022)

In pop culture

*''The Last Paintings of Derek Jarman'' (Mark Jordan, Granada TV 1995). Broadcast by

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

and shown at the San Francisco Frameline Film Festival. Includes footage of Jarman producing his final works. Guests included

Margi Clarke Margi Clarke (born 25 May 1954) is an English actress and radio and television presenter. She had a leading role in the film '' Letter to Brezhnev'' (1985), a low-budget film which had an international release. Later, Clarke played Jackie Dob ...

Brett Anderson Brett Lewis Anderson (born 29 September 1967) is an English singer best known as the lead singer and primary lyricist of the band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he fronted the Tears with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler in 2004� ...

, and

Jon Savage Jon Savage (born Jonathan Malcolm Sage, 2 September 1953) is an English writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his definitive history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, ''England's Dreaming'' (1991). Early life and educati ...

. To coincide with the broadcast the exhibition, Evil Queen was premiered at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. (Contact BFI for footage). *''Derek Jarman: Life as Art'' (2004): a film exploring Derek Jarman's life and films by 400Blows Productions/Andy Kimpton-Nye, featuring Tilda Swinton, Simon Fisher Turner, Chris Hobbs and narrated by John Quentin. Broadcast on

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, films, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

and screened at film festivals around the world, including Buenos Aires, Cork, London, Leeds, Philadelphia and Turin. *''Derek'' (2008): a biography of Jarman's life and work, directed by Isaac Julien and written and narrated by Tilda Swinton. *''Red Duckies'' (2006): Short film directed by Luke Seomore and Joseph Bull, featuring a voice-over from Simon Fisher Turner commissioned by '' Dazed & Confused'' for World Aids Day 2006. *'' Delphinium: A Childhood Portrait of Derek Jarman'' (2009): a "stylized and lyrical coming-of-age" short film combining narrative and documentary elements directed by Matthew Mishory depicting Jarman's "artistic, sexual, and political awakening in postwar England". Jarman's surviving muse Keith Collins and

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

founder Steven Severin both participated in the making of the film, which had its world premiere at the 2009 Reykjavik International Film Festival in Iceland, its UK premiere at the

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove ...

in London, and its California premiere at the 2010 Frameline International Film Festival in San Francisco. In 2011, the film was installed permanently in the British Film Institute's National Film Archive in London. *''The Gospel According to St Derek'' (Andy Kimpton-Nye/400Blows Productions, 2014): screened at the King's College Early Modern Exhibition, the Pacific Film Archive - Berkeley Art Museum, the Australian cinematheque and on the ''Guardian## website, this 40 mins documentary bears witness to Derek Jarman’s unique approach to low-budget film-making and his near-alchemical ability to turn the base components of film-making in to artistic gold. *''Saintmaking: Derek Jarman and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence'' (2021): a documentary by Marco Alessi, commissioned by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Jarman's canonisation into the first British living gay saint by the group of queer activist nuns, the

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), also called Order of Perpetual Indulgence (OPI), is a charitable, protest, and street performance movement that uses drag and religious imagery to satirize issues of sex, gender, and morality (particular ...

. *''Blue Now'' (2023): a live performance adaptation of Jarman's film ''Blue,'' with direction by Neil Bartlett and music by Simon Fisher-Turner, who scored the original film as well. The show has toured around the UK.

References

External links

Bibliography of books and articles about Jarman
via UC Berkeley Media Resources center *
''Derek Jarman: Radical Traditionalist''

– a Jarman retrospective by Nick Clapson * *
Photographs of Prospect Cottage

garden details
at

Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...

Derek Jarman; On lyrical love and dedication

Audio recording of Derek Jarman interviewed by Ken Campbell at the ICA, London, 7 February 1984

Link to correspondence between Derek Jarman and Angelique Rockas

Time is away show
on

NTS Radio NTS Radio (also known as NTS Live or simply NTS) is a music radio platform which was founded in 2011 in Hackney, East London by Femi Adeyemi "for an international community of music lovers". NTS was built as a platform to celebrate the eclec ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jarman, Derek 1942 births 1994 deaths 20th-century atheists 20th-century English male artists 20th-century English diarists 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English LGBTQ people 20th-century English poets AIDS-related deaths in England AIDS-related deaths in the United Kingdom Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Artists from London BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award English writers on atheism English experimental filmmakers English gardeners English gay writers English gay artists English health activists English male screenwriters English music video directors English people of Jewish descent English people of New Zealand descent Film directors from London Gay memoirists Gay screenwriters British HIV/AIDS activists British LGBTQ film directors English LGBTQ rights activists English LGBTQ screenwriters LGBTQ people from London People educated at Canford School People educated at Walhampton School and Hordle House School People from Northwood, London Writers from the London Borough of Hillingdon Collage filmmakers