ROLAND JARVIS
FLEET GALLERY 53 Norman Road St. Leonards-on-Sea TN38 0EG 01424 200220 - 07837 784683 patrick@fleet-gallery.com www fleet-gallery.com
A retrospective exhibition of paintings 8th April - 22nd April.
Roland in 2012 Š Alun Callendar
Roland Jarvis (1926 - 2016) Roland Jarvis was an unusually multi-talented, productive and energetic character who died at his Hastings studio aged 90 marking the end of an extraordinary life. He was of Anglo-French parentage. The gift of a Meccano set when he was seven years of age sparked his formative interest in engineering and training at Kings College, London. However, a chance visit to an art exhibition in 1954 had such a profound effect that he swiftly changed direction to retrain as an artist. Roland studied painting at Chelsea School of Art where he was taught by, among others, Henry Moore and Ceri Richards whose work he much admired. Awarded a French Government scholarship and British Council grant, he studied in Paris from 1956-59, where the Cubist and Surrealist movements had a deep influence on him. Over the next 15 years he lived and worked in a Bushey studio teaching printmaking at Camberwell School of Art. In 1982 he moved to a converted chapel in Hastings. This home provided multiple spaces for painting, etching, sculpture, a clockmaker’s workshop and film studio. While teaching part time at Brighton Polytechnic, Roland developed a seasonally based use of this unique space for his work: drawing and painting during the summer months and retreating to his workshop during the winter to build astronomical clocks and make remarkable digital animation films. Roland was a member of the Rye Society of Artists for over 15 years. He also exhibited at the Brighton College of Art in 1991, Maidstone College of Art, The Royal Academy, The Towner, the Hastings Museum, The Stade Hall and in numerous open studio events as part of local arts festivals. In ‘Timelines’ a 20 minute documentary produced by filmmaker Mark French, he explains: When people ask how the work is going, I say I’m not working, I’m playing!”
1
Biker - 102 x 82 1990
2
Two Bikers - 88 x 135 1992
3
Bikers - 124 x 182 1989
4
One Snooker player with 3 balls - 83 x 122 1988
5
Snooker players with 6 balls - 89 x 111 1988
6
Arena - 40 x 51 2008
7
Black Circus - 122 x 173 1996
8
Clown - 40 x 51 2008
9
Green Circus - 82 x 112 1998
10
Two clowns - 51 x 40 2008
11
Parade - 51 x 40 2008
12
Performance on Blue - 51 x 40 2008
13
Performance on yellow - 51 x 40 2008
14
Red Circus 1 - 125 x 185 1996
15
Animal monument - 79 x 57 2005
16
Circus Bird - 79 x 56 2005
17
Cliffs at Fairlight 2 - 78 x 95 1995
18
Seashore - 97 x 113 ©1990s
19
Funicular Railway - 100 x 122 ©1990’s
20
Two Swimmers - 98 x 133 1988
21
Three Swimmers - 123 x 154 1988
22
Pennyfarthing - 40 x 51 2008
23
Mysterious figures - 135 x 190 1999
24
Procession - 130 x 193 2008
25
Still life with heads - 57 x 79 2003
27
Fire - 123 x 194 1998
26
Sofa Party - 73 x 177 1979
28
Cowman and cows - 123 x 153 1973
29
Interior 1 with nude - 137 x 94 1985
30
Tandoori - 100 x 68 1980
31
General - 132 x 87 2010
Pandemonium - 40 x 51 2008
Pyramid and sun - 122 x 183 2005
Roland in his studio 2011 Š Andrew Hammond
Photographs by Tim Nathan and Mark French