IVOR SEXTON
Portsmouth College of Art and Design, graduating in Illustration and Fine Art. 1979.
Born in 1959 in Portsmouth, England. Studied at Portsmouth College of Art and Design. Upon leaving college in 1979 moved to London to work as an illustrator. Worked for various fashion magazines and music publications. Worked in the publishing industry for 10 years working with such people as French and Saunders, Ruby Wax and Simon Mayo illustrating some of their books. Moved to Cumbria and began painting full time in 1989...currently living in Dumfries Southern Scotland with my partner Graham. Exhibited in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Portsmouth and the Lake District.
I have exhibited at the MACT/CACT Gallery of Contempory Art in Switzerland and have several pieces in their private collection. Worked on an Acute Psychiatric Ward using art as a therapeutic tool to aid recovery from 2000-2008 My work is a narrative…it always tells a story but I like to leave something for the viewer to see for themselves. I find my inspiration in many things such as music and books but I find the best source tends to be my life experiences…especially those from my work on a psychiatric ward. I have an over active imagination which I am so very pleased with. I tend to do a “series” of paintings that stem from one initial idea…this can lead to me following other trains of thought which produce differing aspects of the one theme. There is a lot of symbolism in my work…the purists will say that I take “liberties” with the tales that I tell but that is the magic of storytelling.
I am on a crusade to re establish the male form in art…it was once the main focal point to any painting but has now been relegated to the background. I choose to paint "real men" not fantasy men. The guys in my paintings all have a voice and a tale to tell. We are so pressured to conform to a certain look these days I want my paintings to showcase the ignored generation. Painting is a very personal thing…I always leave something of myself in each piece I paint.
Thank you for taking the time….. Ivor x
FOOT NOTE:
The biggest influence on my painting was...strangely enough...from the man that sexually abused me when I was a boy. I won't say I "suffered" from his abuse as I really don't believe I did. I know what he did was wrong and I am not limiting the damage that these sexual predators can cause...but... He was the only person who actually encouraged my painting. My parents never showed any interest in what I created...in fact my father used to tear up anything I showed him.
My abuser bought me books about the Renaissance artists...especially Leonardo Da Vinci. It was him and those books that fired my passion and gave me the strength to battle on against apathetic and dysfunctional parents. My work still contains a lot of religious elements...my current work is also very autobiographical. A lot of it is about sexual awakening and accepting who we are and what made us that way.
IVOR SEXTON
Born in 1959 in Portsmouth, England.
Studied at Portsmouth College of Art and Design.
Upon leaving college in 1979 moved to London to work as an illustrator.
Worked for various fashion magazines and music publications.
Worked in the publishing industry for 10 years working with such people as French and Saunders, Ruby Wax and Simon Mayo illustrating some of their books.
Moved to Cumbria and began painting full time in 1989...currently living in Dumfries Southern Scotland with my partner Graham.
Exhibited in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Portsmouth and the Lake District.
Have exhibited at the MACT/CACT Gallery of Contempory Art in Switzerland and have several pieces in their private collection.
Worked on an Acute Psychiatric Ward using art as a therapeutic tool to aid recovery from 2000-2008
My work is a narrative…it always tells a story but I like to leave something for the viewer to see for themselves. I find my inspiration in many things such as music and books but I find the best source tends to be my life experiences…especially those from my work on a psychiatric ward. I have an over active imagination which I am so very pleased with. I tend to do a “series” of paintings that stem from one initial idea…this can lead to me following other trains of thought which produce differing aspects of the one theme. There is a lot of symbolism in my work…the purists will say that I take “liberties” with the tales that I tell but that is the magic of storytelling. I am on a crusade to re establish the male form in art…it was once the main focal point to any painting but has now been relegated to the background. I choose to paint "real men" not fantasy men. The guys in my paintings all have a voice and a tale to tell. We are so pressured to conform to a certain look these days I want my paintings to showcase the ignored generation.
Painting is a very personal thing…I always leave something of myself in each piece I paint.
Thank you for taking the time…..
Ivor x
FOOT NOTE: The biggest influence on my painting was...strangely enough...from the man that sexually abused me when I was a boy. I won't say I "suffered" from his abuse as I really don't believe I did. I know what he did was wrong and I am not limiting the damage that these sexual predators can cause...but...
He was the only person who actually encouraged my painting. My parents never showed any interest in what I created...in fact my father used to tear up anything I showed him. My abuser bought me books about the Renaissance artists...especially Leonardo Da Vinci. It was him and those books that fired my passion and gave me the strength to battle on against apathetic and dysfunctional parents. My work still contains a lot of religious elements...my current work is also very autobiographical. A lot of it is about sexual awakening and accepting who we are and what made us that way.