Veteran Swindon artist's major retrospective in aid of charity

By Barrie Hudson - 31 July 2024

Arts and CultureCharity
  • The artist in his studio

    The artist in his studio

Swindon Hub will host a retrospective exhibition of works by artist David Gibbons throughout August.

David Gibbons with an outsized mock up of the Olympic coin he designed
Covering the period from the 1950s to the present day, the exhibition at the town centre arts, culture and community venue will include works in watercolour, oil, acrylic, etching, portraits, marbling, alcohol inks and other media.
Proceeds from sales will be donated to international medical aid charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.
David studied at Birmingham's Moseley Art School and the city's College of Art, and was an apprentice at a printing company.
His career saw him work for the YMCA and the London Borough of Bexley, although he continued to produce artworks throughout this time.
A heart attack when he was 55 prompted him to take early retirement and concentrate on art.
His works hang in many collections and spaces, and he was invited to design one of the London Olympics commemorative 50 pence coins. That piece, featuring Taekwondo, was struck 1,644,000 times and is prized by collectors.
David said: "There will be about 30 works. I've got some stuff going back to when I went to college in 1950 to 52, but most of the paintings have been fairly recent - the last four or five years."
David first discovered his love of art in earnest when he was about 12 years old.
"I went to art school from secondary school; this was Moseley School of Art, from 1947 to 1950. I found that was very interesting, and I got encouragement from the teachers there who said I was a good draughtsman, which is what they called drawing in those days.
"I then went on to Birmingham College of Art for two years, and there I got a comment from one of the tutors, who said, 'I wish I could draw like that.'"
David still has the drawing in question, which shows a working heavy horse.
His work ranges from strictly representational pieces to works in various media showcasing aspects of history. One striking piece, for example, covers the history of the discovery of radiation, beginning with the experiments of Newton and continuing through luminaries including Einstein.
Swindon Hub is open 10am-5pm, Tuesdays to Saturdays.
More information about David and his work can be found at davidgibbons.weebly.com 
 

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