A highly respected, fine art lecturer from Northumberland College has been specially commissioned by the world-renowned National Portrait Gallery in London to create artwork for a landmark exhibition that is currently on show.
Graham Dolphin was chosen as one of the UK’s leading names in contemporary art to contribute new work to the Michael Jackson-inspired exhibition, ‘On The Wall’, which has been launched to coincide with what would have been the late performer’s 60th birthday.
The exhibition, which will tour the Grand Palais in Paris, Kunstmuseum in Bonn and EMMA in Helsinki, features five new works made by Graham including two large-scale pieces made from multiple copies of Michael Jackson’s ‘Off The Wall’ and ‘Thriller’ record covers.
The lecturer, who teaches HND Fine Art and Foundation Diploma (Art and Design) courses at Northumberland College’s Ashington and Bamburgh House, Newcastle, campuses, attended the official launch along with famous celebrities including Mark Ronson. The exhibition sponsor, Hugo Boss, also commissioned Graham to create a limited edition T-shirt to be sold at flagship stores worldwide.
He commented, “It was an honour to be asked to contribute to the exhibition. Michael Jackson was an extraordinary artist and iconic figure, and the range of responses and breadth of work by more than 40 artists is a great example of how one subject matter can be interpreted very differently.
“To be in a position where I can relay this experience back to students and encourage up-and-coming talent from the region, is rewarding on a personal level. Northumberland College has some great, young creative talent on its fine art, design and photography courses and hopefully many will make successful careers in art and communication-related industries in the future.”
Northumberland College offers a range of courses including Arts Practice, Graphic Design, Photography and Textiles. It also provides BTEC Level 3-4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Bamburgh House, Newcastle, which is designed to provide the technical expertise students require to go forward and enter Higher Education or creative industries.
For more details on creative courses and September enrolment at Northumberland College, please contact t: 01670 841200 or www.northumberland.ac.uk