Our People
Richard Kenton Webb
Richard Kenton Webb is an award-winning artist and educator with over 30 years of extensive experience in various teaching roles, at institutions including The Slade School of Fine Art, London and The Royal Drawing School, London. As well as teaching at some of the most respected art colleges in the UK, Richard has taken part in many residencies overseas, including The British School, Rome; Cité International des Arts, Paris; SACI International, Florence; LARQ, Tasmania, Australia; and Tao Hua Tan, China.
Richard joined Arts University Plymouth in November 2020 as Subject Leader for our BA (Hons) Painting, Drawing and Printmaking programme.
Richard was awarded the Sunny Art Prize in 2020. His practice focuses on painting, drawing and printmaking, and his work is held in collections in the UK, Europe, China, Mauritius, Japan, Australia, the USA and Canada. Richard’s most recent shows have been in Texas at the Martin Museum of Art in Emergence, curated by Dr Richard Davey; and at the Sokei Academy, Tokyo in Seer: European Painting & Drawing, curated by John France. Richard will be taking part in the Paris Contemporary Drawing Fair in 2021 and has been invited to the Josef and Anni Albers Residency, USA in 2022.
Awards
2020: London Sunny Art Prize, First Prize Winner
2018: Tao Hua Tan Painting Residency, China
2015: LARQ Residency, Tasmania, Australia
2014: LARQ Residency, Tasmania, Australia
1999: SACI International, Florence, Italy
1988: St Stephen’s House, Oxford
1986: Cheltenham Fellowship, Cheltenham Art School
1985: Cité International des Arts, Paris
1983: Boise Travelling Scholarship, British School, Rome
Assisting in driving pedagogic innovation and the subject specialisms of painting, drawing and printmaking within the college.
Contributing to the academic and operational leadership of undergraduate and postgraduate subjects.
Making the college the leading centre of excellence, innovation and research for painting in the South West.
Pioneering appropriate learning experiences and assessment criteria for creatives by decolonising the curriculum in order to enhance the student experience and an inclusive environment of the college.
Collaborating with academics, curators and gallerists in Plymouth, the UK and around the world to open up inter-disciplinary partnerships and professional opportunities for students and staff.
Championing the integration of theory and practice in teaching and learning.
Bringing an awareness of the many discourses of contemporary painting around the world, including expanded practices.
Sharing knowledge, skills and experience of the practice of materials, techniques and processes, alongside the synergy between painting, drawing and printmaking.
Solo exhibitions (from 2011)
2021: London Sunny Art Centre, Grays Inn, London
2015: Landscape is a Conversation, LARQ Gallery, Queenstown, Tasmania; and Drawings & Prints, Slade Gallery, London
2014: Still Life with Blackbirds, Corinium Museum, Cirencester; Thoughts in Search of a Thinker, LARQ Gallery, Queenstown, Tasmania; and New Work, Celia Lendis Contemporary, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire
2011: Orangeness, Abbey Walk Gallery, Grimsby
Group exhibitions (from 2011)
2021: Paris Contemporary Drawing Fair, curated by Jan-Philipp Fruehsorge of The Berlin Drawing Hub; and London Sunny Art Centre, Grays Inn, London
2020: London Sunny Art Prize, Sunny Art Centre, London; and Signal, Centrespace Gallery, Bristol, a collaboration of staff & students from the Slade, Sokei, LUCA, and UWE (Drawing & Print)
2019: Mini Print, Arnolfini, Bristol; Seer: European Painting and Drawing, Galleria Punto, Sokei Academy of Fine Art & Design, Tokyo, Japan; and Emergence: Art and the Incarnation of Space, the Martin Museum of Art, Baylor, Texas, USA
2018: Tao Hua Tan Painters, Hefei Modern Art, China; and Mini Print, Arnolfini, Bristol
2017: Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue? Kunstzaal, Onderder Toren, Hasselt, Belgium; Mini Print, Arnolfini, Bristol; Go the Distance, Kooi Space, PXL-MAD, Hasselt, Belgium; Nine Painters, curated by Dr Richard Davey, Syson Gallery, Nottingham; and Tokyo International Mini-Print Triennial, touring Japan; and Mini Print, Arnolfini, Bristol
2016: John Moores Painting Prize, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; and Mini Print, Arnolfini, Bristol
2015: Cotswold Open Studios, Wetpaint Gallery, Cirencester; Tokyo International Mini-Print Triennial, touring Japan; and Mini Print, Arnolfini, Bristol
2014: The LARQ Effect, Gallery Ten, Hobart, Tasmania; and Mini Print, Blackwells, Bristol
2013: Annual Open, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol; The Language of Paint, two-person show with Iain Andrews, Atkinson Gallery, Millfield School; Hidden Treasures, Corinium Museum, Cirencester; and Guanlan International Print Biennial, China
2012: Winter Show, Celia Lendis Contemporary, Moreton-in-Marsh; Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London; BITE: Artists Making Prints, Mall Galleries; and The Open West, Gloucester Cathedral
2011: Winter Show, Abbey Walk Gallery, Grimsby; Royal West of England Autumn Show, Bristol; Insights – British Art Today, Museum Oberműnster, Ratisbon, Regensburg; and The Nature of Landscape III, Surface Gallery, Nottingham
Publications
Webb, R. (2021) Intersemiotic Milton, A Contemporary Artist’s Response to the Synergies of Drawing and Painting in Paradise Lost. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Webb, R. (2021) A Contemporary Artist’s Response to the Synergies of Drawing and Painting in Paradise Lost. Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting, Dublin
Webb, R. (2019) Light / Dark Contrast: Contemporary Drawings Inspired by Paradise Lost. The British Milton Seminar, Birmingham University
Reardon, J. and Webb, R. (2016) Still Life with Blackbirds, Collaboration: Art and Fiction, National Association of Writers in Education, Annual Conference, Stratford Manor
The Colour Lectures (2015) Summer School, Slade School of Fine Art
Ten-Day Festival, Tasmania (2015) led three artist panels at Launcerton, Bernie and Hobart
Webb, R. and Reardon, J. (2015) Still Life with Blackbirds, Oxford: Artists’ Choice Editions
Webb, R., (2015) Drawing as a Way of Thinking, Richard Kenton Webb: The Landscape as Discourse, Queenstown: Landscape Art Research: pp.10-31
Webb, R., (2011) Lost in Translation, the Nature of Pigmented Colour, Colour: Design and Creativity, London: Society of Dyers and Colourists
Film and audio visual
Parkinson, A., Nine Painters, Syson Gallery, Nottingham, [web blog], 26 April 2017
Webb, R., Drawing as a Way of Thinking, [podcast], 27 October 2016
Webb, R., The Artist’s Vlog: Richard Kenton Webb, [26 podcasts], 2014-15, YouTube
Richard Kenton Webb Colour Forms, 2013, dir. Christian Barnett, YouTube
