Roy Jackson (1944–2013) was an Australian contemporary artist, one of a group of artists based at Widden Weddin, Wedderburn. His work is part of the permanent collections of

Artbank Artbank is an Australian art rental program established in 1980 by the Australian Government. The program supports contemporary Australian Visual artists, artists by purchasing their Art, artworks and renting them to public and private sector cli ...

, the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

, the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

, and the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

Early life

Jackson was born in South London, England in 1944. At the age of 13 he was selected under the Tripartite System of education to attend Sutton East Technical College School of Art, one of several junior art schools run by County Councils in the post-war era. George Mackley, a master craftsman of wood engraving who had trained as a teacher of art at Goldsmiths’ College, London, was the enlightened headmaster. Mackley stated in his article entitled 'Art in Adolescence or What You Will' (1959) for 'The New Era Journal' that "art is not fundamentally a purely manual process. Its spirit is born in the mind, and its body is fashioned by the hand". Jackson went to Australia at age 15 with his parents, who migrated as

Ten Pound Poms Ten Pound Poms were British citizens who migrated to Australia and New Zealand after the Second World War. The government of Australia initiated the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme in 1945, and the government of New Zealand initiated a simil ...

. He returned a year later to complete his art education at Sutton, then

Wimbledon College of Art Wimbledon College of Arts, formerly Wimbledon School of Art, is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college specialises in theatre, screen and performance arts and design ...

, where he was in the first cohort of the new, “degree equivalent”, National Diploma in Design (Dip AD), which he was awarded in 1965 by the

National Council for Diplomas in Art and Design The National Council for Diplomas in Art and Design was a UK statutory body responsible for awarding Diplomas in Art and Design undertaken in further education colleges. It operated from 1961 to 1974 when its responsibilities were merged into the ...

Career

Jackson returned to Australia in the mid-1960s and, from 1968, taught part-time on and off for three decades at

East Sydney Technical College The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...

, where he met Elisabeth Cummings. Jackson and Cummings were two of the four founding members of Widden Weddin in

Wedderburn, New South Wales Wedderburn is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wedderburn is located 57 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Ma ...

. They built their studios on 10 acres of land, alongside Joan Brassil and Fred Braat. John Peart joined in the 1980s, with the extension of the site up to 25 acres. Widden Weddin remained Jackson's "base" for 38 years. Jackson travelled extensively to remote locations in Australia. His paintings celebrate this. One of his paintings, �
Jowalbinna bushcamp
�� (1989), which was purchased by the

, relates to his trips in the late 1980s and 1990s to this conservation area of rock art galleries in the

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

. The property and bush camp named Jowalbinna were leased to

Percy Trezise Percy Trezise (28 January 1923 – 11 May 2005) was an Australian pilot, painter, explorer and writer as well as, notably, a "discoverer", documenter, and historian of Aboriginal rock art. He was born in Tallangatta, Victoria but is associated e ...

, who began exploring and recording the

Quinkan rock art Quinkan rock art refers to a large body of locally, nationally and internationally significant Aboriginal rock art in Australia of a style characterised by their unique representations of "Quinkans" (an Aboriginal mythological being, often spel ...

in the 1960s; it was finally inscribed on the

Australian National Heritage List The Australian National Heritage List or National Heritage List (NHL) is a heritage register, a list of National heritage site, national heritage places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia, established in 2003. The li ...

in 2018. Another significant painting named �
Gilgai Gibber Plains
�� (1994) was shortlisted for the

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

in 1997 and donated to the collection of the

by the estate of Roy Jackson in 2015. Jackson was a finalist for the

on numerous other occasions (1990: ‘Small house bright land’, 1998: ‘Jump-up country’, 2000: ‘Ewaninga’, 2001: ‘Desert moon’, 2002: ‘Upper Macleay’, 2003: ‘Line- Along Line’). Jackson was also a finalist for the

Sir John Sulman Prize The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, having been established in 1936. It is now held concurrently with the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize, at the Art Galler ...

on four occasions (1996: ‘Turning stones into stars’, 1998: ‘Beachcombing near Cooktown’, 2003: ‘Inch time foot gem’, 2007: ‘Blue note’). Jackson was awarded other art prizes, including the Maitland Art Prize in 1997 for ‘Last light’ (judged by

Edmund Capon Edmund George Capon (11 June 1940 – 13 March 2019) was an art scholar specialising in Chinese art. He was director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1978 to 2011. He was also the chair of soccer club Sydney FC from 2006 to 2007. E ...

) and the

Mosman Art Prize The Mosman Art Prize is an annual art award made by the corporation of Mosman, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. It has been running since 1947. Past adjudicators also include notable Australian art figures such as Margaret Preston, John Olsen ...

in 2002 for �
Gulgan Flats’
(judged by Terence Maloon), both works entering the respective collections. In an exhibition at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

War Memorial Art Gallery in 2003, Jackson was exhibited alongside

Ian Fairweather Ian Fairweather (29 September 189120 May 1974) was a Scottish painter resident in Australia for much of his life. He combined Western and Asian influences in his work. Life Ian Fairweather was born in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire, Scotland i ...

and

Tony Tuckson John Anthony Tuckson (18 January 1921 at Port Said, Egypt – 24 November 1973 at Wahroonga, Australia), was an Abstract Expressionist artist, an art gallery director and previously a war-time Spitfire pilot. He died of cancer. Education Th ...

, both British-born and educated Australian painters. In 1995, Jackson divided his time between Australia and the UK. He established a studio in Northumberland, near

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

, which became his UK "base", enabling him to travel to remote locations in Europe, particularly Greece. Jackson had lived on the small Greek island of

Poros Poros (; ) is a small Greek island-pair in the southern part of the Saronic Gulf, about south of the port of Piraeus and separated from the Peloponnese by a wide sea channel, with the town of Galatas on the mainland across the strait. Its surf ...

for nine months in 1973. In England, Jackson had solo exhibitions in two northern regional art centres,

Queen's Hall, Hexham The Queen's Hall, formerly Hexham Town Hall, is a municipal structure in Beaumont Street, Hexham, Northumberland, England. The structure, which was the headquarters of Hexham Urban District Council and is now an arts centre, is a Grade II listed ...

and The Customs House, South Shields in 2001. Jackson's exploration of colour and form in the works exhibited in 2001 was of interest to

Anya Hurlbert Anya Christine Hurlbert, also known as Viscountess Ridley (born April 1958), is a British academic who is Professor of Visual Neuroscience and Dean of Advancement at Newcastle University. Her research involves the study of the interaction betwee ...

, Professor of Visual Neuroscience at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

, who invited him to exhibit on the occasion of the opening of the new

Henry Wellcome Building Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick un ...

, Institute of Neuroscience. Jackson had a retrospective exhibition at the Australian National University

Drill Hall Gallery The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university and member of the Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition ...

which opened in 2013, shortly after his premature death from cancer. This exhibition toured to the S.H Ervin Gallery and then on to Maitland Regional Art Gallery and other regional art centres in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

, Tamworth and

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

, New South Wales. The retrospective was accompanied by the monograph ‘Roy Jackson hands on’.

Artistic philosophy

Jackson's work was about “conveying a sense of place or a sense of a sensation”. It was “not sufficient to provide a snapshot of life, in the manner of a realist painter”. Jackson was strongly inspired by the

bushland In Australia, bushland is a blanket term for land which supports remnant natural area, remnant vegetation or land which is disturbed but still retains a predominance of the original floristics and structure. Human survival in bushland has a wh ...

landscape around his Wedderburn home, once saying, "If someone asks me what has influenced me most in my work, I simply point to the landscape of this place".

References

External links

Defiance Gallery – Roy JacksonEstate of Roy Jackson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Roy Australian contemporary art 1944 births 2013 deaths British artists British male painters Australian painters Australian male painters 20th-century British painters 20th-century British male artists