Keith Coventry In Conversation with Andrew Wilson

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Summary of recorded contents:

On Thursday 20 May, The Lightbox was privileged to receive a visit from leading contemporary British artist Keith Coventry, and Andrew Wilson, Tate’s Curator of Modern and Contemporary British Art.

Keith Coventry’s ‘Echoes of Albany’ series of paintings are currently being exhibited at the museum to compliment The Lightbox’s important new exhibition, ‘The Art of Walter Sickert’.

The focus of their discussion was Sickert’s influence on Keith Coventry’s work, and the key role Sickert has played in the development of 20^th century British art. As well as learning more about Sickert, the audience was given the fascinating opportunity to hear more about the work of Keith Coventry, as the artist shared anecdotes about the inspiration behind some his most significant pieces of work.

Coventry explained that for him, the frame is just as crucial to the finished piece as the painting itself, and once refused to allow an art gallery to clean the frames before exhibiting his work, feeling that the accumulated dust added a vintage patina which contributed to the early 20^th century impression he wanted. He also confessed that ‘Sometimes I feel like I’m just getting through the painting to get to the framing stage!’

Coventry also discussed two paintings from his 1994 ‘White Abstracts’ series, which are also on display at The Lightbox. Subjects for these include a still life of a cucumber sandwich, and the royal family – the inspiration, he explained, came from a conversation with a former editor of The Telegraph, who expressed distaste for modern art. Coventry responded by creating a series of paintings of traditional subjects, rendered in a post-modern, abstract style.

The conversation between Andrew Wilson and Keith Coventry continued to debate Sickert’s life, influence and motivations, and explored the ways in which Coventry had interpreted Sickert’s themes and style of working.