LONDON.- An exhibition marking the culmination of a mammoth, 12-month project for legendary artist and illustrator Sir Quentin Blake has moved online due to the coronavirus lockdown, meaning people all over the world can now enjoy it.
In August 2019, the 87-year old published the first five editions of The QB Papers - a series of 20 large format, hand sewn paperback books of drawings. Five more titles followed in November 2019 and again in February 2020, with the final ones being published in May 2020.
Quentin explains where the idea for The QB Papers came from, “I exhibit regularly at what used to be called the Jerwood Gallery and is now Hastings Contemporary. These exhibitions each have a theme; one, of fantasy headgear, became a book called ‘The World of Hats’. In due course I found myself producing thematic sequences of drawings too fast for them all to be exhibited, and so I decided to have them made into a set of publications, ‘The QB Papers’. The styles, although no doubt still identifiably mine, I have tried to vary.”
Coinciding with the last books being released, an exhibition of extra drawings which are not included in the original books was due to open on 17 May at The Coningsby Gallery in London.
Due to the current coronavirus restrictions this obviously now cannot happen, so instead the exhibition can be viewed online at
www.coningsbygallery.com
Sir Quentin says “I am disappointed that at the moment is it not possible to see the drawings themselves in the Gallery, which is what I really like, nevertheless it is an encouraging thought that even more will see them on line. And that I am very much looking forward to.”
Sir Quentin Blake was born in 1932. He read English at Downing College, Cambridge; Education at the London Institute of Education and attended life classes at Chelsea School of Art. He taught illustration for over twenty years at the Royal College of Art. His first illustrated book, A Drink of Water by John Yeoman appeared in 1960, and since then he has worked on over 300, collaborating, with many other writers including Russell Hoban, Michael Rosen, and Roald Dahl. He is also known for his own picture books such as Clown and Zagazoo, and his illustrations for the Folio Society to classics such as Don Quixote, Candide and The Golden Ass. In the past fifteen years he has also worked on many projects for museums, hospitals, and other public spaces but in England and in France. In 1999 he was appointed first Children’s Laureate. He was knighted in 2013 for services to illustration, and he is also a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur. He has written three books about his own work, Words and Pictures and Beyond the Page and Pens Ink and Places. He lives in London and Hastings.
