The Oracle of Zeus, or Dionysos Anthios

Etching with aquatint in colours on wove paper, 1981.

Joe Tilson was an English artist and fellow of the Royal Academy. Tilson was born in 1928, he served in the Royal Air Force from 1946 to 1949. He first studied art at Saint Martin’s School of Art from 1949 until 1952 and later studied at the Royal College of art until 1955. In the same year, he received the Rome Prize to the British School at Rome, living in Italy until 1957. In 1958 after returning to London, Tilson started teaching at Central Saint Martins until 1963. He continued to teach later at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, The School of Visual arts in New York and the Hochschule für Bildende Kunste in Hamburg. As a student at the RCA, Tilson was associated with many notable artists such as Patrick Caulfield and David Hockney among many others.

Clip o Matic Lips

Screenprint on acetate with metallised film over paper, 1967

Tilson was one of the leading figures of British Pop Art in the 1960s, Tilson was a proponent of political activism, sexual liberation and social change. He often sought to break pre-existing boundaries and set a wider scope on contemporary art. However, growing disillusioned with consumerism that pop art tended to highlight and the lack of political and societal change, Tilson moved from London to the countryside. When living in the countryside, Tilson’s subject matter saw a change to cultural history as a form of inspiration. Joe Tislon’s works are held in collections including the Tate Gallery, London; MoMA, New York and the Stedelijk, Amsterdam.

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