The Art Society Tonbridge

theartssociety.org/tonbridge
Thursday, October 27, 2022 at 14:30

Medway Hall, The Angel Leisure Centre, Angel Lane, Tonbridge
Non-members welcome. The talk is followed by tea and biscuits.
The sincerest form of flattery: great images and those who borrowed them

Artists and designers have always imitated their predecessors. Their motives for doing so range from genuine respect to outright parody, and the more a work is copied, adapted, quoted and repackaged, the more it lives on in the public imagination. This is a lecture that deals with artistic borrowing, drawing on a very wide range of art and design, including painting, sculpture, photography, graphic design and fashion. The artists on whom it touches include Constable, Leonardo, Manet, Warhol, Turner, Dali, Harry Beck (creator of the Tube Map), Alexander McQueen (fashion designer), the photographers Martin Parr and Lewis Morley. It concludes with the strange ‘afterlife’ of Alfred Leete’s famous WW1 recruiting poster of Lord Kitchener. Lecturer:Mr Barry Venning

An art historian whose interests and teaching range from the art of late medieval Europe to global contemporary art. He has published books, articles and exhibition catalogue essays on Turner, Constable and European landscape painting, but also has an ongoing research interest in postcolonial art and British visual satire. He works as a consultant and associate lecturer for the Open University. His media work includes two BBC TV documentaries, radio appearances for BBC local radio and abc Australia, and a DVD on Turner for the Tate.