Roy Osborne has sustained interest in all aspects of colour in art and design since studying graphics and fine art at Brighton College of Art.
In various ongoing series of paintings (Divisions, Heraldic, Bends, Compass, etc) he has explored colour contrast, harmony, contour, optical colour mixing, and illusory depth in works that typically integrate figure-ground ambiguity, regular pattern, symmetry, hard versus soft edge, illusory transparency, light and shade, and plainness versus texture. Almost all his abstracts feature horizontal, vertical and diagonal divisions of the square. Regular patterns encourage the eye to explore arrays of colours, with rhythm provided by predominant shapes and prominent colour contrasts or groupings. A presentation of his theories is included in Color Influencing Form (2004).
He has contributed to over 100 group exhibitions in the UK and abroad (plus 6 solo shows), and has work in over 50 private collections and several public collections. For three decades he was primarily a part-time or visiting lecturer in tertiary education, specialising first in printmaking (at Brighton, Bradford, the Slade School, Watford and Sunderland) and then colour theory and art history. He taught annually in the USA 1982-87, during which time he devised and taught practical colour modules, which continued to develop throughout the 1990s and beyond.
To date he has presented over 2,000 lectures at over 200 institutions in the UK, USA, Australia, and elsewhere. In 2003 he became the first recipient of the Turner Medal of the Colour Group (Great Britain). In all he has written, edited or contributed to 18 books on colour, plus articles, starting with his innovative Lights and Pigments: Colour Principles for Artists (1980).
He recently published the first English translation of Fulvio Pellegrino Morato’s 16th-century book on colour of, plus a revision and history of a bibliography of over 2,500 colour books published since 1500. His historical survey of colour in art and science is included in Janet Best’s Colour Design (2012).
Artwork
Art Education
1992-94 University of London (Institute of Education). Master of Arts Degree, Art & Design in Education.
1989-91 Chelsea College of Art, London (Art History). Postgraduate Diploma, Theory of Modern Art.
1972-74 Slade School of Fine Art, London (Printmaking), Postgraduate Assistant, Lithography.
1970-71 Brighton Polytechnic (Printmaking). Postgraduate Certificate, Fine Art Printmaking.
1966-70 Brighton College of Art (Design & Fine Art). Bachelor of Arts Degree, Fine Art Painting.
Exhibitions
Over 120 group exhibitions including (in London) Alexandra Palace, Barbican Concourse, Bridport Gallery, Keyworth Gallery, Knapp Gallery, Lauderdale House, Loggia Gallery, Mall Galleries, Menier Gallery, McPherson Gallery, Riflemaker Gallery, Riverside Gallery, Rutherford Gallery, Soane Museum; South London Art Gallery, plus Boxfield Gallery (Stevenage), Cartwright Hall (Bradford), Ceolfrith Gallery (Sunderland), Cooper Gallery (Barnsley), Fenderesky Gallery (Belfast), Oriel Gallery (Clwyd), Ove Arup Gallery (Manchester), Usher Gallery (Lincoln), Warrington Museum & Webster Gallery (Eastbourne). In the USA, Akron University (Ohio), Leepa-Rattner Museum (Florida), Kent State University (Ohio), MADI Museum (Texas), Pratt Institute (New York); Centre d’Art Contemporain (Paris) & Salon del Real Convitto Borbonico (Naples). Solo exhibitions: Dryden Street Gallery (London 1984), Dance Attic Gallery (London 1991), American College Gallery (London 1997), Gardner Arts Centre (Brighton 1997), Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery (1997), Stables Gallery (London 1999).
Book Publications
2013 Author: Books on Colour since 1500: A History of Colour Literature (Boca Raton, Florida)
2012 Author/translator: Fulvio Morato On the Signification of Colours, 1535 (Boca Raton, Florida)
2012 Contributor: Colour Concepts, Pigments and Palettes (author Don Pavey; London)
2012 Contributor: Colour Design: Theories and Applications (editor Janet Best; Cambridge)
2010 Editor/contributor: Colour Engrained in the Mind (author Don Pavey; London)
2009 Editor: Colour Symbolism, from Prehistory to Modern Aesthetics (author Don Pavey; London)
2004 Author: Color Influencing Form: A Color Coursebook (Boca Raton, Florida)
2003 Editor: Colour and Humanism (author Don Pavey; Parkland, Florida)
1990 Contributor: The Color Compendium (editors Augustine Hope, Margaret Walch; New York)
1989 Author/curator: From Prism to Paintbox: Colour in Modern British Painting (Mold, Clywd)
1980 Author: Lights and Pigments: Colour Principles for Artists (London; New York 1981)