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Interview with Steve Whittle

By Jonathan Evens

The primary subject matter of Steve Whittle’s work is colour, a realisation that was brought home to him in preparing for a 2024 retrospective at the Beecroft Gallery in Southend-on-Sea. His work is often produced in series and is unified by similar images and colour combinations. The main medium he now uses is collage, a technique he has developed over many years.

From colour field and op art to collaged landscapes and flower studies, his career has had many fascinating twists and turns, which include his coming to faith through his art. Throughout, he has searched for a language that he could use to communicate and with which he would feel comfortable. He is still searching.

JE: You have had a varied career working in a range of different styles before focusing primarily on collage. A preoccupation with colour has characterised your work whether working on abstracts, landscapes, portraits, or religious iconography. What have been the highlights for you on your unique journey through visual art?

SW: I went to the Central School of Art and Design 1969-1973. I was full of enthusiasm, excitement and big ideas when I started. However, over the four years (foundation and degree), this all drained out of me and, when I left, I felt I had nothing left in the tank. The desire to create though was overpowering and so I set about finding a method of working that I could feel comfortable and confident with. As I often say, 'I am still searching.'

A Vision For You (1984), acrylic on canvas

Through experimentation and determination, I developed my own way into colour field painting, op art, and systems art. From 1976 to 1984, I became known for my style and I was rubbing shoulders with the likes of John Hoyland, Paul Huxley, Richard Smith and Bridget Riley, amongst others. My subject matter was colour and composition. I became good at it and was successful in terms of reputation, exhibitions and finance. I had a large studio in Stepney, East London, and I continued this way for many years.

In 1984, due to a growing dissatisfaction with the way I was working, I decided to do something different. I went to oil painting and experimented with portraits, still life, landscape and any other subject matter I felt worth trying. I felt a tremendous sense of freedom from this change but lost my reputation amongst the art establishment. The work became more important to me than kudos. The world was now my oyster, so to speak, and I have allowed myself to pursue whatever subject in whatever materials I feel appropriate.

Some of the highlights have been:

Getting into a prestigious art school and having the best artists/tutors.
Working with Bridget Riley as a studio assistant and also when Bridget bought a large acrylic triptych from one of my exhibitions to decorate her home in Holland Park.
Having been part of 'British Contemporary Art', a travelling show going to Japan, USA and other countries.
Showing work alongside established artists and being accepted by them.
Realising that success as an artist needn’t be about money.
Having fallen in love with art and managing to have a successful relationship, sometimes.
And of course, my retrospective at the Beecroft Gallery, 1973-2023 ‘Fifty Years of Struggle’.

JE: You said that you fell in love with art at 14 but it has been a stormy relationship and you have contemplated divorce without that proving possible. What are some of the ways in which your relationship with art has been stormy and why has the relationship endured?

SW: It has been said that ‘art is a harsh mistress’ and I have found this to be true. Once art had its hold on me, it has been impossible for me to leave the relationship. Art has gotten into my very soul and not pursuing it is debilitating. It is like air, light and water. Life cannot be maintained for long without these necessities. Art is added to that list, for me, for the same reasons.

Art has caused me many problems in my attempts to divorce from it. For example, problems with money, property and prestige have resulted in my decision to leave. It is always a love-hate relationship on both sides and can be the reverse side of the coin at any given moment. For example, both beautiful and ugly.

Life has often been made difficult and relationships with others due to, I believe, the jealousy that art feels when other aspects of life start to take me away. I have given in to art and find now that I can have a healthy balance between art and life outside as long as I stay faithful.

JE: Why did collage become so important for you and how do you approach the use of that media?

SW: It was totally unexpected that I should discover collage in my work and has naturally morphed into my journey by pursuing the term, ‘That’s good, do another’.

I experimented with mixed media in the mid to late 70s and was using oil paint, charcoal, pencil, cloth, oil pastel and acrylic all on the same surface, usually canvas. I started to add bits of torn pages from magazines to the mix and was pleased with what this did to the image and the surface. Over a period of time, collage started to take over until little of the other materials were left exposed. I was working on a series of images of Epping Forest at the time and I wondered to myself, what would it be like to just start and finish with collage, leaving all the other materials out?

Forest I (1987), collage on board

The result was ‘Forest I’ (1987). I felt this was a technique worth pursuing, so I set about developing a way of working with collage to further develop this language. It became an exciting technique and almost as though I was starting again and pursuing a new and stimulating challenge; the surface to work on, the quality of the magazines, the texture, the torn edge or the cut edge, the right glue to use and how to shape all of these things into a successful image.

I was most excited about the chance element of collage. The unexpected results would come about as I laid the papers onto the surface and allowed myself to go along with what was happening rather than keep trying to stick to my original plan. I loved the surfaces that came naturally and the surrealist elements that were introduced by the technique. The lettering and words became a part of the composition. Some were left and some removed depending on the visual image and what was needed. It was and is an exciting discovery and reestablished me within an exciting and new experience with my relationship with art. We became, for a while, a happy couple. I did most of my experimenting with collage on a series that was to become the Stations of the Cross. This also moved me closer to my understanding and relationship with God.

Also, I was surprised just how much these images affected the viewer. When I first showed them in 1993, I got such positive responses to the collage aspect but very emotional responses to the subject matter. This hasn’t changed in 30 years. They still have a powerful effect on all who see them.

JE: You have just had a major retrospective at the Beecroft Gallery in Southend. How did it feel to re-discover your early work and what connections do you see with your current focus?

Having the retrospective at the Beecroft has been a massive eye-opener for me. It has basically taken eight months to sort out my life’s work (what I have left of it). Then, to put the work up and to have it on show for three months means that I haven't done any new work for a year; the first time since the age of 14 that that has happened. However, the entire experience has proved invaluable.

I am amazed by the story that has been revealed from 1973 to the present day. It became clear to me that although the images, techniques and materials have changed quite dramatically over the decades, the work has a fundamental link; that of colour and other art and artists. These are the real subject matters that I have been pursuing and has been made all the more obvious when looking at my work chronologically.

Someone that I went to art school with in the 1970s, who came to my retrospective and has also been to most of my exhibitions over the years, said, “Your work may change in terms of subject matter, style and technique, but is always evident that it is yours.” What a lovely thing to say and food for thought.

My relentless efforts to please and improve my relationship with art have led me to see a logical development in my work and that nothing is wasted in the pursuit of a satisfactory image. “We are the sum total of our experience."

Installation View of 'Steve Whittle: A Retrospective 1973-2023', 13 January - 31 March 2024, Beecroft Gallery

JE: Have there been ways in which your teaching work has interacted with the artworks that you have been creating over the years?

Not really. Although I have both loved and loathed teaching, it has given me the independence to continue my artistic life outside without having to rely on sales and exhibitions to keep my head above water. I have tried to come from the angle of the artist, rather than the teacher, when directing students. Although there would be directives from the Government, I would try to shape these so that I could use my experience to come up with lively and interesting projects for them to pursue and to prove to the students that I was serious about my subject. I would often produce work of my own along with their own efforts and this seemed to go down well. A sort of ‘practice what I preach’ approach.

I have always emphasised the importance of art history in the development of the work they do, and I would always do slideshows, video sessions and gallery trips related to the projects we were working on. This of course helped me in my understanding of history and how it relates to my work.

JE: You know some key 60s artists, like Bridget Riley, and have reworked themes and images from artists like Francis Bacon. What have you taken from those artists who have influenced you and how have you made those influences your own?

SW: Working with Bridget Riley was an invaluable experience. I learned so much about studio practice, techniques and materials from just being in that environment. Also, by meeting other technicians who were pursuing artistic careers, as well as gallery owners, buyers and other artists that I met while being there. I also did studio work for other artists such as Ed Meneeley, an American sculpture painter, and Adrian Berg, a British painter; all very valuable experiences.

I fell in love with Francis Bacon's work during his second retrospective at the Tate Gallery in 1985. I must have gone to the exhibition as many as twenty times. I was gobsmacked and couldn't get enough of it. I had seen his work before of course but this retrospective was such a powerful experience for me. I have often said that my main concern now was how to not paint like Francis Bacon.

With Bridget Riley's influence, I felt the need for control, rigid rules, colour mixing and labour-intensive building up of images. With Francis Bacon, it was the opposite. Throwing paint, experimenting and a disorganised approach brought about such exciting images. I feel that I have learned over the years to put both of these practices into my work, and this was made more possible by discovering collage.

I did a triptych in 1993 as a tribute to Francis Bacon in collage using some of his imagery such as the Furies. Then, in 2023, I did another tribute to Francis Bacon on the 30th anniversary of his death. Both Bridget Riley and Francis Bacon have had the greatest influence on my work over the years and I instinctively use both of their influences either consciously or subconsciously in all that I do.

Of course, other artists have had great effects on me and my development these past decades. After all, I love art and I'm always on the lookout for another buzz that one gets from continuously looking at, reading about and discovering new and established ideas.

I like to think that the influences that affect my outcomes, inform and personalise the work rather than just pinpoint other artists. I think I have developed, over the years, a language of my own. However, I do not mind in the least if viewers of my work recognise other artists’ influence.

JE: Religious iconography became a major theme for you, initially through the Stations of the Cross. You have said that by increasingly working on religious themes you began to develop faith yourself as a result of the art you were creating. How did that come about?

SW: When I started to develop the technique of collage, I was looking for a subject to experiment with. I was going in and out of the National Gallery London a lot and thought that I might use Renaissance painting to transcribe. I chose to do El Greco’s ‘Christ takes the Cross on His Shoulder’ and another El Greco, ‘The Disrobing of Christ’ and experimented with collage to make these images my own.

An artist friend of mine, a Catholic, came to visit me in my studio and said, ‘Why are you doing the Stations of the Cross?’ That was the first time I remember hearing this term. He explained what it was about and so I set about producing my own versions of the fourteen stations in collage. It took me three years (1990-1993) to complete them but was a great way of experimenting and discovering how to use collage. Also, at the same time, I was thinking more and more about the life of Christ and what the journey of Christ meant to me.

Descent from the Cross (2020), Collage On Board

I have always visited churches in my pursuit of art and architecture and, as an atheist, always got a spiritual lift just by being in the church and cathedral environment; enjoying the architecture and art as well as the stained glass. Over the years, I grew more and more moved by these visits and when I started to become conscious of my spiritual experiences and an awareness of God and Christ through the development of my Stations of the Cross, I started to feel a presence when working which I could only explain as God’s guidance in my endeavours.

It occurred to me that I started to accept the presence of God, rather than deny it. I started to believe. At 46 years of age, I got married to a Catholic and almost converted to Catholicism myself, however, for the moment I remain Church of England. I continue to work on religious themes and feel the presence of God guiding me, advising me and letting me know when there is a sense of disapproval. I feel that the creative process is a spiritual experience, regardless of the subject matter and I liken it often to contemplation, meditation and prayer.

JE: You have also talked about the primal and immediate connection you felt with Bradwell Chapel and of having a tactile relationship with churches and other heritage buildings. What is it that you are feeling in these places and how do you seek to convey that sense in the works?

SW: With the building known as St Peter’s on the Wall in Bradwell, I felt an instant connection with the powerful sense of history. When I touched the walls, I felt the passing of time and the birth and death of generations, the changing of the landscape around the building and the tides ebb and flow. The church has stood in that spot since 700 A.D., being used over the centuries for many different purposes and is now a shrine for pilgrimage for seekers from all over the world.

The building is a powerful force, standing proud in the bleak flat landscape. The presence of God, for me, is undeniable and I have been compelled to produce images of it in a variety of techniques and materials, producing around thirty images to try to understand and communicate that power.

St Peters on the Wall Revisited (2017), Charcoal On Paper

With Christchurch, Spitalfields, a Hawksmoor church. I had a similar feeling. However, the mood here is much lighter and I felt drawn to produce images that were both monumental but at the same time friendly and welcoming. Standing as it does amongst the hostile bustle of modern-day living with the surrounding cityscape the passing of pedestrians and the noise and commotion of traffic it looks on with a gentle comforting smile.

Many artists have attempted to convey this feeling of Christchurch. One such artist, Leon Kossoff, has painted it many times. Again, I have explored Spitalfields church by producing many images in different techniques and materials to explore the feelings I am given by its presence. I have felt drawn to many other places and buildings over the years and expect to continue to do so.

Christ Church Spitalfields (2018), Acrylic On Canvas

JE: Having had your retrospective, where are you going next? Has that experience given you a new focus?

SW: As I touched on earlier, in my responses to these questions, the continuing journey that has become evident as a result of my retrospective has been made clear to me. So, no change in direction has occurred to me but rather an affirmation that I am on the right path and need to continue along the same road.

There are some areas that I have explored in the past that I feel I could go back to and investigate further, which at some point I may do. Mostly, though, when I stopped producing new work in order to concentrate on my retrospective, I had many ideas I was pursuing so I will, and have, picked up and carried on from where I left off and I am already back into producing work that is leading me forward.

I always come back to the quote made by Corot: “The artist… can and must tolerate everything, dare everything, risk everything: his field is immense, extends to everything, embraces everything, and has no limits except first the stupid and then the impossible…”

Steve Whittle will be exhibiting at St Andrew’s Wickford in Spring 2025 (14 January – 18 April 2025). See http://stevewhittleart.com/ for more information about his work.

27 November 2024 / Paul Chandler and Brian Whelan

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by Jonathan Evens

ARTWAY: OPENING EYES, HEARTS & MINDS

Interview with Steve Whittle

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ARTWAY:
OPENING EYES,
HEARTS & MINDS