Clyde Hopkins
Clyde Hopkins was born in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, in 1946, and moved with his family to Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, at the age of eleven. His first exhibition, Dryden and Hopkins, was held at the Gas Showrooms in Barrow-in-Furness in 1964. He studied at the University of Reading in the 1960s, earning a Bachelor of Arts with honors in Fine Art (Painting), and there met his future wife, the painter Marilyn Hallam.
Over the course of a career spanning more than forty years, Hopkins worked from studios in Greenwich and Deptford in South East London, and later in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex. From 1974 to 1982, he taught as a part-time and sessional lecturer at art colleges and universities including Hull College of Art, Canterbury, the University of Reading, Manchester, and Newport. In 1978, he showed in the First Spring Show at the Serpentine Gallery, London. In 1979, he received a Greater London Arts Association Award and was included in Open Attitudes at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. The following year, he received an Arts Council of Great Britain Purchase Award and the Mark Rothko Memorial Travelling Fellowship to the United States. That same year, he was included in The Hayward Annual, selected by John Hoyland, at the Hayward Gallery, London, and in Seven Painters at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge.
In 1981, Hopkins had a solo exhibition at the ACME Gallery, London, and in 1982 he was appointed Head of Painting at Winchester School of Art, a post he held until 1988. Solo exhibitions followed at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, and Rochdale Art Gallery in 1985, each with a catalog, and at the Serpentine Gallery in 1986. He exhibited in the Whitechapel Open at the Whitechapel Art Gallery several times between 1983 and 1994. In 1988, his work was included in The Presence of Painting: Aspects of British Abstraction 1957–1988, a South Bank Centre touring exhibition that opened at the Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield. In 1989, the Castlefield Gallery in Manchester mounted Modern Times: A Retrospective Exhibition.
The Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery in London held solo exhibitions of his work in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1997, the last titled Clyde Hopkins: Recidivist Paintings & Other Crimes. He also exhibited at Galeria Joan Prats in New York in 1990 and 1994. In 1990, he joined Chelsea College of Art, where he became Principal Lecturer in Painting and later Professor. In 1991, he exhibited at the Kunstverein Kirchzarten in Germany as part of Kunst Europa, organized by the British Council. In 1993, he was one of four painters from the Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery shown at Bayer AG in Leverkusen and Düsseldorf. Further solo exhibitions took place at the Reg Vardy Arts Foundation Galleries, University of Sunderland, in 1994, the Atkinson Gallery, Millfield, in 1996, and the London Institute Gallery in 1998, where he presented Vodka, a Stiff Breeze and Paranoia. He also received the Lorne Award.
His group exhibitions of the period included British Abstract Art: Part 1, Painting at Flowers East, London, in 1994. They also included Delight, selected by David Sweet, shown at the John Holden Gallery, Manchester Metropolitan University, in 1996 and at the Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston upon Thames, in 1997, and British Abstract Painting 2001 at Flowers East. He exhibited frequently in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and his prints were published by Advanced Graphics London. Hopkins also curated exhibitions. These included colourspace at APT Gallery, Deptford, in 2003, which featured 27 contemporary artists including Grenville Davey, Chris Ofili, and Noel Forster. He also curated Same As It Ever Was (2007–2008) with Donald Smith and Eamonn Maxwell, presented across three London venues.
In 2008, Hopkins was named Professor Emeritus of the University of the Arts London. In 2012, he held two solo exhibitions: brown madder at Chelsea Futurespace, London, and Indian Yellow at the Merston Gallery, Chichester. He showed at 116 Gallery in Tenterden, Kent, in 2013 and 2016.
Clyde Hopkins died in 2018. His work can be found in public and private collections in the United Kingdom and North America. In 2019, APT Gallery in Deptford mounted the retrospective Clyde Hopkins: A Path Through Dark and Light. Exhibitions since then have included The Politics of Formica at The Forum, Barrow-in-Furness, in 2021, a solo exhibition at Upsilon Gallery, New York, in 2022, and two solo exhibitions in London in 2024: Clyde Hopkins, Paintings 2000–2017 at Blond Contemporary and a show at Blackbird Rook/Arcade.
Source: Blackbird Rook
Clyde Hopkins was born in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, in 1946, and moved with his family to Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, at the age of eleven. His first exhibition, Dryden and Hopkins, was held at the Gas Showrooms in Barrow-in-Furness in 1964. He studied at the University of Reading in the 1960s, earning a Bachelor of Arts with honors in Fine Art (Painting), and there met his future wife, the painter Marilyn Hallam.
Over the course of a career spanning more than forty years, Hopkins worked from studios in Greenwich and Deptford in South East London, and later in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex. From 1974 to 1982, he taught as a part-time and sessional lecturer at art colleges and universities including Hull College of Art, Canterbury, the University of Reading, Manchester, and Newport. In 1978, he showed in the First Spring Show at the Serpentine Gallery, London. In 1979, he received a Greater London Arts Association Award and was included in Open Attitudes at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. The following year, he received an Arts Council of Great Britain Purchase Award and the Mark Rothko Memorial Travelling Fellowship to the United States. That same year, he was included in The Hayward Annual, selected by John Hoyland, at the Hayward Gallery, London, and in Seven Painters at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge.
In 1981, Hopkins had a solo exhibition at the ACME Gallery, London, and in 1982 he was appointed Head of Painting at Winchester School of Art, a post he held until 1988. Solo exhibitions followed at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, and Rochdale Art Gallery in 1985, each with a catalog, and at the Serpentine Gallery in 1986. He exhibited in the Whitechapel Open at the Whitechapel Art Gallery several times between 1983 and 1994. In 1988, his work was included in The Presence of Painting: Aspects of British Abstraction 1957–1988, a South Bank Centre touring exhibition that opened at the Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield. In 1989, the Castlefield Gallery in Manchester mounted Modern Times: A Retrospective Exhibition.
The Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery in London held solo exhibitions of his work in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1997, the last titled Clyde Hopkins: Recidivist Paintings & Other Crimes. He also exhibited at Galeria Joan Prats in New York in 1990 and 1994. In 1990, he joined Chelsea College of Art, where he became Principal Lecturer in Painting and later Professor. In 1991, he exhibited at the Kunstverein Kirchzarten in Germany as part of Kunst Europa, organized by the British Council. In 1993, he was one of four painters from the Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery shown at Bayer AG in Leverkusen and Düsseldorf. Further solo exhibitions took place at the Reg Vardy Arts Foundation Galleries, University of Sunderland, in 1994, the Atkinson Gallery, Millfield, in 1996, and the London Institute Gallery in 1998, where he presented Vodka, a Stiff Breeze and Paranoia. He also received the Lorne Award.
His group exhibitions of the period included British Abstract Art: Part 1, Painting at Flowers East, London, in 1994. They also included Delight, selected by David Sweet, shown at the John Holden Gallery, Manchester Metropolitan University, in 1996 and at the Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston upon Thames, in 1997, and British Abstract Painting 2001 at Flowers East. He exhibited frequently in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and his prints were published by Advanced Graphics London. Hopkins also curated exhibitions. These included colourspace at APT Gallery, Deptford, in 2003, which featured 27 contemporary artists including Grenville Davey, Chris Ofili, and Noel Forster. He also curated Same As It Ever Was (2007–2008) with Donald Smith and Eamonn Maxwell, presented across three London venues.
In 2008, Hopkins was named Professor Emeritus of the University of the Arts London. In 2012, he held two solo exhibitions: brown madder at Chelsea Futurespace, London, and Indian Yellow at the Merston Gallery, Chichester. He showed at 116 Gallery in Tenterden, Kent, in 2013 and 2016.
Clyde Hopkins died in 2018. His work can be found in public and private collections in the United Kingdom and North America. In 2019, APT Gallery in Deptford mounted the retrospective Clyde Hopkins: A Path Through Dark and Light. Exhibitions since then have included The Politics of Formica at The Forum, Barrow-in-Furness, in 2021, a solo exhibition at Upsilon Gallery, New York, in 2022, and two solo exhibitions in London in 2024: Clyde Hopkins, Paintings 2000–2017 at Blond Contemporary and a show at Blackbird Rook/Arcade.
Source: Blackbird Rook