Derek Jarman

Derek Jarman (1942–1994) was a British artist, filmmaker, stage designer, diarist, author, and gardener. He was educated at the King’s College London and at the Slade School of Art.

In 1967, Jarman exhibited his paintings in Young Contemporaries, Tate Gallery, London; Lisson Gallery, London; and Fifth Biennale des Jeunes Artistes, Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris. Jarman worked as a set designer on Ken Russell’s feature film The Devils (1971) among other productions. In the early 1970s. Jarman began an extensive series of filmworks made with Super 8 mm, followed by his first full-length feature film, Sebastiane, in 1975. He then went on to make ten feature films, including Jubilee (1978); The Last of England (1987); and The Garden (1990). His final film, Blue, was first shown at the Biennale Arte, Venice, in 1993. Solo exhibitions include, ICA, London (1984); Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (1993) Barbican Gallery, London (1996); Serpentine Gallery, London (2008); X Initiative, New York (2009); Julia Stoschek, Dusseldorf (2010). Amanda Wilkinson, London, (2014/2017/2019/2021); Trondheim Art Museum, Norway (2014), The Garden Museum, London, (2020); JHG, Southampton, UK (2021); David Zwirner, New York (2021); LE CRÉDAC, Paris, (2021); LUMA, Arles, (2022). He was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1986. Jarman wrote several books, including the autobiographical Dancing Ledge (1984) and two volumes of memoirs, Modern Nature (1991) and At Your Own Risk (1992). Derek Jarman’s Garden, which documents the creation of his extraordinary garden at Dungeness, Kent, England was published in 1995. A major retrospective of Jarman’s work titled PROTEST! was mounted IMMA, Dublin and the Manchester Art Gallery in 2021/2, describing him as “One of the most influential figures in twentieth-century British culture”. Forthcoming publications include a monograph in French and English published by JRP Editions.