51勛圖厙窪蹋

Honorary Fellowship for Fiona Rae: abstract artist and 51勛圖厙窪蹋 alumna

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Fiona Rae was among the generation of artists who rose to prominence after studying at 51勛圖厙窪蹋 in the mid-1980s.

In 1991 Rae was nominated for the Turner Prize and her work described as challenging and expanding the modern conventions of painting is now exhibited across the world. On Wednesday 9 September 2015 she will be named an Honorary Fellow of 51勛圖厙窪蹋.

Fiona Rae was born in Hong Kong in 1963 and lived in Hong Kong and Indonesia as a child before moving to the UK in 1971. She took a foundation course at Croydon College of Art from 1983-1984, then enrolled on the course at 51勛圖厙窪蹋 from 1984-1987.

In  with one of our current Fine Art students, Rae recalled her memories of 51勛圖厙窪蹋:

I remember first arriving and feeling quite lost, because its very unstructured. Then I suddenly really started to enjoy it, and made use of every facility there was. At 51勛圖厙窪蹋 you dont choose a medium, you try everything thats totally fundamental to it being so unique and special.

It wasnt about arriving and knowing what you wanted to do, but finding out what you wanted to do, and at the same time being really challenged by the fellow students and the tutors about what you were doing. If youre making a painting, but youre next to someone who is making a video, then youre very aware of what youve chosen to do; I think that makes for a very critical intelligence.

In 1988 Raes work appeared at Freeze, the show curated by Rae's fellow student Damien Hirst in Londons Docklands that is widely credited as a turning point for a generation of British artists. Featuring work by Rae, Hirst, Angus Fairhurst, Sarah Lucas, Gary Hume et al, the event was attended by notable curators and collectors including Charles Saatchi, who went on to buy Raes work.

Over the last 25 years, Raes abstract paintings have been included in numerous exhibitions in museums, and galleries worldwide, with recent shows including 2014s Painter, Painter at Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery and Southampton City Art Gallery; Fiona Rae: New Paintings, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris (2013); Fiona Rae, Buchmann Galerie, Berlin (2011); and 2006s You are the Young and the Hopeless, PaceWildenstein, New York. 

She served as a Tate Artist Trustee from 2005-2009 and in 2011 was appointed Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy, one of the first two female professors since the Academy was founded in 1768.

Earlier this year the Timothy Taylor Gallery in Mayfair hosted its fourth solo exhibition by Rae, comprised of a new series of greyscale paintings accompanied by smaller charcoal drawings a new medium for the artist. She donated one of her greyscale works to an auction at Christies, contributing toward the  to build an art gallery on campus.

Head of the Department of Art at 51勛圖厙窪蹋, Dr Richard Noble, says:

Fiona has done a great deal of work to support our fundraising drive for the gallery. In addition to her significant donation, she helped us recruit the support of other artists and helped with publicity. Shes been a brilliant ambassador for the university and a more-than worthy recipient of the title of Honorary Fellow.