Ian Breakwell (26 May 1943 in

Long Eaton Long Eaton is a town in the Erewash district of Derbyshire, England, just north of the River Trent, about south-west of Nottingham and some 8½ miles (13.7 km) south-east of Derby. The town population was 37,760 at the 2011 census. It ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

– 14 October 2005 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) was a world-renowned British

fine artist In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork. ...

. He was a prolific artist who took a multi-media approach to his observation of society.

Early life

Breakwell was born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

and studied at Derby College of Art, graduating in 1964.

Career

During the 1970s Breakwell worked with the Artist Placement Group a pioneering artists' organisation founded in 1966 by

Barbara Steveni Barbara Steveni (21 August 1928 – 16 February 2020) was a British conceptual artist who was based in London. Steveni was the co-founder and director of the Artist Placement Group (APG), which ran from the 1960s to the 1990s. The APG's goal ...

and John Latham, together with David Hall,

Barry Flanagan Barry Flanagan OBE RA (11 January 1941 – 31 August 2009) was an Irish-Welsh sculptor. He is best known for his bronze statues of hares and other animals. Biography Barry Flanagan was born on 11 January 1941 in Prestatyn, North Wales. F ...

, Anna Ridley, and Jeffrey Shaw among others. It was a milestone in Conceptual Art in Britain, reinventing the means of making and disseminating art. Ian Breakwell was represented by Angela Flowers Gallery from the early seventies to 1983. Three major solo exhibitions were displayed in 1974, 1977 and 1979, 'The Diary and Related Works', 'Beaten' and 'The Walking Man Diary' respectively. He was included in several group shows at Flowers Gallery, such as 'Contemporary Portraits', curated by Matthew Flowers in 1988 on the occasion of the opening of Flowers East, the Gallery's second premises located on Richmond Road in East London. Breakwell was also part of the exhibition 'The Self Portrait: A Modern View', curated by Edward Lucie-Smith and Sean Kelly, which toured in 9 British venues after its initial display at Artsite Gallery (Bath) and featured over 60 artists including Elisabeth Frink, David Hockney, Peter Blake and Eduardo Paolozzi. APG set out to place artists in the wider social context beyond galleries, museums and the art market by establishing relationships with companies and government departments. The process of a working relationship would be the prime objective, not artwork production. Breakwell's placements included the

Department of Health and Social Security The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services. Hi ...

; under its auspices, he worked in

Broadmoor Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. It is the oldest of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secure ...

and

Rampton Rampton may refer to: People *Cal Rampton (1913–2007), U.S. politician *George Rampton (1888–1971), English footballer * Richard Rampton (born 1941), British lawyer * Sheldon Rampton (born 1957), U.S. political writer *Lucybeth Rampton (1914� ...

hospitals. The results included a report, co-written with a group of

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s, recommending top-to-bottom changes at Rampton, and a film, '' The Institution'' (1978), made with the singer-songwriter and artist

Kevin Coyne Kevin Coyne (27 January 1944 – 2 December 2004) was an English musician, singer, composer, film-maker, and a writer of lyrics, stories and poems. The "anti-star" was born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, and died in his adopted home of Nurember ...

. A diary entry recalls Breakwell's first APG visit to Rampton, which immediately stirred memories of performing there as a child-conjuror: the incongruous juxtaposition is entirely characteristic. In 1986

Pluto Press Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Originally, it was the publishing arm of the International Socialists (today known as the Socialist Workers Party), until it changed hands and was replaced ...

published ''Ian Breakwell's Diary 1964-1985'', his idiosyncratic journal, observing fine details of modern society typically overlooked by most people. In the 1980s and 1990s, he made over 21 adaptations of his diary for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, as ''Ian Breakwell's Continuous Diaries'', produced by Anna Ridley (Analogue Productions). Later he co-edited (with Paul Hammond) two important anthologies, akin to the work of

Mass Observation Mass-Observation is a United Kingdom social research project; originally the name of an organisation which ran from 1937 to the mid-1960s, and was revived in 1981 at the University of Sussex. Mass-Observation originally aimed to record everyday ...

: ''Seeing in the Dark'' (1990), an assemblage of hundreds of accounts of cinema-going; and ''Brought to Book'' (1994), which documented the myriad forms of bibliophiliac obsession. Although he had a longstanding relationship with the Anthony Reynolds Gallery in London, his keenness to develop new ways of working led to residencies with, among others,

Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from studios at a converted ...

(1985) and

Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of ...

(1994-95). Works of this period included ''Auditorium'' (1994), a film made with composer

Ron Geesin Ronald Frederick Geesin (born 17 December 1943) is a Scottish musician, composer and writer known for his unusual creations and novel applications of sound, as well as for his collaborations with Pink Floyd and Roger Waters. Career Ron Geesin ...

, in which we are taken to a variety show, but are only allowed to see the audience's reactions; the results are hilarious and touching. ''Auditorium'' was on show at

The De La Warr Pavilion The De La Warr Pavilion is a grade I listed building, located on the seafront at Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, on the south coast of England. The Modernist and International Style building was designed by the architects Erich Mendelsohn and Ser ...

, Bexhill, as part of an exhibition, co-curated by Breakwell, called ''Variety'', the title taken from another Breakwell/Geesin film. The pavilion itself was the setting for ''The Other Side'' (2002), in which ballroom dancers float serenely through its dreamlike architecture, to the accompaniment of a

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

nocturne A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. History The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' 'of the night') was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensemb ...

for piano trio. It was in 2004 that Breakwell was diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

. Typically, he responded with renewed creative energy, creating a series of works that looked unblinkingly at his condition. The resulting images are both painful and beautiful - just as the last pages of his diary will no doubt reveal not only the artist who created them, but unexpected facets of our own experience. Breakwell is survived by his wife Felicity Sparrow, and by his mother Nancy. The Tate Archive holds a collection of Breakwell's personal papers, correspondence, photographs and notebooks including documentation of 'The Institution' performances with

Post-Humous Exhibitions

Quad Gallery
in Breakwell's hometown of Derby, presented a major retrospective of his work in 2010 titled ''Ian Breakwell: the Elusive State of Happiness'', which is also the title of a 1979 work held in the Arts Council England Collection. In October 2012,

opened up a new exhibition of Breakwell's work entitled ''Keep Things As They Are''. This was the largest retrospective exhibition to date and all aspects of his work were presented, including works rarely or never exhibited before. The exhibition was spread over two galleries and featured ''The Other Side''. The exhibition consisted of fifty works spanning his career.

Early life

Career

Post-Humous Exhibitions

References

External links