John Bowstead

John Bowstead was born in Northampton on September the 27th 1940. He is an English artist and best known as a contributor to the Pop Art movement of the 1960s.

In 1962, while still at "Coventry Art School" Bowstead won the "Reuters Prize" for the "Young Contemporaries" alongside David Hockney and Peter Phillips (artist).cite web|url=http://www.antiqbook.co.uk/boox/roe/006928.shtml http://www.antiqbook.co.uk/boox/roe/006928.shtml|title=http://www.antiqbook.co.uk/boox/roe/006928.shtml|url=http://www.antiqbook.co.uk/boox/roe/006928.shtml|] This resulted in an exhibition at the ICA for the recipients of the prize. In 1964, while attending the "Slade School of Fine Art" Bowstead, alongside a group of Slade painters, formed a group calling themselves "Fine Artz Associates". In 1964 the "Young Contemporaries" displayed their piece "The Kandilac Kustomised Asteroid Action Seat". The same year, Bowstead won the "John Moores Junior Prize" for his piece "Surf Citizen". John appears in "Too much : art and society in the Sixties 1960-75" by Robert Hewson, first published in 1986.

John became "head of visual and performing arts" at the "Working Men's College" in 2001. He currently teaches on the ever successful Access to Art & Design course at Working Men's College. Examples of ex-students work, most of whom went on to study at Goldsmiths, Camberwell, Chelsea, St Martins and LCC can be found at [http://www.accessartdesign.blogspot.com] He has two children and lives with his wife in East London, near to his friend the academic John Grahl.

His sister Jennifer married Allan Clarke (singer) of The Hollies in 1963.

References