Bath Academy of Art Re-formed

Frank Gambino

1984-87

Previous posted 20 August

Admittedly Frank has given the model, Adrian, a smudged head here, but below is a piece about his portraits, which include the one of Lydia posted on 20th August.

 

"Traditionally at the centre of the art academy was the life room. Drawing the figure from life was an essential skill that all were trained to master. It is the expectation of the man in the street that an artist can capture a likeness – make a drawing of them or their loved one. Life class drawing is much more than this. It demands honest looking, and the result might not be attractive. Frank Gambino continues to work from life with the basics of drawing, a stick of charcoal and a sheet of paper. As he states: “My work is a record of the time I spend drawing the people who are in my pictures.”  It is not just a finished result that we consider, but also the event of making a drawing. Gambino has described his drawings as ‘big ugly heads’, not very flattering to the sitters but this label gives heft to the drawings as worked events."

From Stephen Clarke's introduction to the forthcoming Corsham Re-formed Show. Clarke is an artist, writer, and lecturer based in the northwest of England.