Derek Boshier

(British, b. 1937)
The Exhibition, 1984
Oil on canvas; 88 1/2 x 138 1/2 inches
Gift of the artist in 1993

Vogue, Oswald and Lech Walesa, Mysteries—New Orleans and The Exhibition are three works from Derek Boshier’s Texas Paintings (1980−93) series. As such they are emblematic of the aesthetic diversity characterizing his work from the 1980s. Derek Boshier moved to Houston from London in 1980 for a teaching post at the University of Houston. He had first come to prominence during the 1960s in London while still a student at the Royal College of Art, where he helped to launch the British Pop Art movement along with fellow students David Hockney, Allen Jones, R.B. Kitaj, and others. During the thirteen years that he spent in Texas, Boshier dove back into painting, a medium he had not focused on in England. Here he explored the subjects of cowboy mythology, pop culture and modern life, and the relationship between art and politics.

The Exhibition depicts the tension between art galleries and life, more broadly. This subtle work reflects on the material exchange that taking place in commercial spaces for art display and the uncertainty that carries the viewer into a state of thoughtful reflection reaching farther than the literal. It is based on Boshier’s own experience when he viewed one of Dan Flavin’s exhibitions. Apart from paintings, Boshier has created short films, done graphic design work for music groups like David Bowie and The Clash, and designed tapestries. Practicing many forms of art Boshier received the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017 and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Art in London in 2016. Boshier presented these three works to the University of Houston in 1993 in gratitude for the years spent at the university and in Texas. Derek Boshier currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

Location

University of Houston-Downtown
Academic Building

Spotlight | Derek Bosier

Other Artworks by this Artist

Vogue, Oswald and Lech Walesa, 1982

Mysteries – New Orleans, 1983