ENGAGEMENTS WITH JOCELYN
Wimbledon College of Art meets Jocelyn Herbert …

One of the most extensive and important twentieth century theatre design archives, that of Jocelyn Herbert, has moved to its new home at Wimbledon College of Art, enabling students to have intimate contact with over four thousand drawings, masks, sketchbooks, models, photographs, correspondence and related material.

It was Jocelyn Herbert’s wish that the archive have an active life in an art school rather than falling into purely academic use in a library or museum. It is believed that this is the first time that such a significant collection has been made available in this way.

'I knew the stage designer Jocelyn Herbert - she was the greatest designer
of her time…’
Director, Mike Nichols, The Independent, November 1st 2007

To pay tribute to the significance of the Jocelyn Herbert archive, an exhibition, Engagements with Jocelyn, has been curated by Peter Farley, (Senior Lecturer: Theatre Design for Performance). Held in the gallery at wimbledon, the exhibition marks the beginning of a relationship and a pioneering development at Wimbledon College of Art.

Engagements with Jocelyn celebrates a new generation of theatre artists interacting with the work of Jocelyn Herbert. Young Theatre Designers will show their own responses to Samuel Beckett’s, Endgame, alongside Jocelyn’s designs for the play’s first production in English (1958). Costume Interpretation students will re-make Jocelyn’s costumes for plays ranging from Thomas Heywood’s A Woman Killed with Kindness (written 1603) to John Osborne’s A Patriot for Me (written 1965), and Technical Arts and Special Effects students will exhibit pieces demonstrating notions of scale and replication inspired by Jocelyn’s designs for Tony Harrison’s 1998 Channel 4 film, Prometheus. The exhibition creates a unique opportunity for cross-generational visual dialogue.

Engagements with Jocelyn also inaugurates an exciting development at Wimbledon, a new building, funded by the Rootstein Hopkins Foundation, to house the Jocelyn Herbert archive. The completion of this work will bring together the archive, the gallery and the theatre, forming a unique hub within the University. Through SPARK, (Scenographic Practice, Archive Research and Knowledge Transfer), Wimbledon’s School of Theatre has an ongoing commitment to recording, archiving and disseminating the process of design and interpretation for performance. The new building will further SPARK’s mission by making Jocelyn’s work accessible to students, researchers, theatre specialists and the public at large.

‘The Jocelyn Herbert Archive is an exceptionally rich collection, which contributes to the growing archives and special collections across the University of the Arts London. The archive documents the professional practice of one of the most influential British theatre designers of the period, and provides an exemplary teaching and learning resource for students at Wimbledon, as well as the wider community of scholars and researchers. Wimbledon is delighted to be housing this unique resource.’
Professor Anita Taylor, Dean of College: Wimbledon College of Art.

Exhibition Dates and Times

Exhibition Information
Friday 25th April - Friday 23rd May 2008
Monday - Friday 2pm - 7pm
Closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays

Venue and Public Contact Details
the gallery at wimbledon
Wimbledon College of Art,
Merton Hall Road, London,
SW19 3QA.
(t) +44 (0) 207 514 9703
(e) thegallery@wimbledon.arts.ac.uk

Cost Free

Travel Information
Nearest Tube Station: Wimbledon/South Wimbledon
Overland Station: Wimbledon/Wimbledon Chase
Tram: Dundonald Road Tram Station

End
Notes to Editors

∑ The daughter of A.P. Herbert, Jocelyn trained at the Slade and at the London Theatre Studio before the Second World War and from the 1950s until the 1970s was the key designer for the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre, working on world premieres of plays which went on to be considered twentieth century classics. Her designs defined the first productions of plays by Arnold Wesker, John Osborne, David Storey and Samuel Beckett, and the close working relationships she forged at the Court with directors as diverse as Tony Richardson, Lindsay Anderson and John Dexter led to collaborations in other spaces and on films such as ‘Tom Jones,’ If...’ and ‘O Lucky Man!’. Jocelyn’s last decades were enriched by a unique working partnership with the poet and playwright Tony Harrison, with whom she was developing a new production on the day that she died in May 2003.

∑ ‘the gallery at wimbledon college of art’ was established in 2004. It contributes to and builds upon the strong emphasis and tradition of research and practice within the College through the promotion and dissemination of the visual arts in this context. The exhibition programme reflects the subject specialisation within the College, fine art and theatre design, with an emphasis on particular research interests.

∑ Wimbledon College of Art has a century-long heritage as one of the UK’s leading art institutions. With a first-class reputation, the College fosters a creative community in which students develop at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, with the unique guidance and expertise of tutors who continue to practice as professional artists, designers and researchers.

∑ PRESS: For high resolution images (300dpi+) or further information on the JOCELYN HERBERT exhibition contact Peter Farley via email: peterfarley@btopenworld.com alternatively you can contact Miranda Clarke via email: m.j.clarke@wimbledon.arts.ac.uk