User:Durhamart

Background

Terry Durham is an internationally known abstract and figurative artist and poet and has had exhibitions throughout the world. Terry was born on 24 September 1936 in East Ardsley, West Yorkshire, where he spent his formative years. Mostly self-taught, he studied and was greatly inspired by the works of Paul Klee and a wide range of other European artists such as Picasso, Gauguin, and Matisse. He attended the Leeds College of Art before pursuing painting as his profession.

Early Years

In 1960 at the age of 24 Terry moved to St Mary, Isles of Scilly where he and his wife worked in the Atlantic Hotel for two years. Here Terry found inspration in the rugged island landscape and the often sunny and temperate climate of the Islands produced the perfect conditions for his painting. It was while working on the island and through his group of friends there that Terry heard of the growing art scene in London. After a short return to Yorkshire Terry moved with his family to Beckenham in Kent in 1964.

The 1960's Art Scene

While living in Beckenham Terry got to know Nicholas Treadwell and was one of the regular artists with work on "Nicholas Treadwell's Mobile Art Gallery", based nearby in Croydon. Terry was one of the first artists to show at the Nicholas Treadwell Gallery on Chiltern Street in London when it opened in 1968. Terry's early London exhibitions were widely covered in the local press and they brought Terry into the media spotlight and the attention of some of the celebreties of the era including Bill Wyman, Muriel Spark, Lulu and Andrew Bown now of Status Quo.

Music and Poetry

Music and Poetry were also important to Terry's creative nature and he formed a group called Storyteller with Roger Moon, Mike Rogers and the late Caroline Attard. Storyteller toured the local jazz and folk clubs and were signed by Transatlantic Records recording two albums 'Storyteller', produced by Peter Frampton and 'More Pages'. The group appeared on the same bill with The Humblebums (Gerry Rafferty and Billy Connolly), Hawkwind, and Vinegar Joe (Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer) during their time. The group's highlight came when they were support act for a UK tour by Ralph McTell, beginning at the Royal Festival Hall, London. Shortly after this they split up. Terry went on to record his only solo album 'Crystal Telephone', with musical arrangements by Johnny Coleman, which has recently been re-released and a track played on the Stuart Maconie Radio 6 Music Show Freakier Zone on 15/09/12.

One of his paintings appeared on and was analysed by his friend, the late biologist and science historian Jacob Bronowski, in an episode of the acclaimed 1974 television series 'The Ascent of Man' and the accompanying book.

"The first question we ask is, is the human brain a better computer - a more complex computer? Of course, artists in particular tend to think of the brain as a computer. So in his "Portrait or Dr Bronowski" Terry Durham has symbols of the spectrum and the computer, because that is how an artist imagines a scientist's brain. But of course that cannot be right. If the brain were a computer, then it would be carrying out a pre-wired set of actions in an inflexible sequence."

Fans have described his solo work Crystal Telephone as "a wonderfully different album", "Yorkshire's answer to Serge Gainsbourg" and "a beautiful piece of poetry and music - a very unique balsam for the soul”.

Terry's time spent in London in the 1960s, rubbing shoulders with the likes of the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, and the fact that he lived around the corner from a young David Bowie (originally Jones) was no doubt influential in his own musical forays and lyric writing.

In 1993, Terry moved with his family to the Algarve, southern Portugal, where he lived for 11 years. During his time there, in addition to painting professionally, he had many successful exhibitions, was employed regularly as a mural painter and, going back to his musical roots of the 1960-70s, performed as vocalist for a rock and blues band.

He was particularly inspired by the people, climate, colours, landscape and architecture of southern Portugal.

During this time, Terry also had several international exhibitions, including five in Berlin and one on the island of Jersey. One of his 'Yellow Bird Walking' series is on show in Rickenbakers Music Inn in Berlin and while their Terry had the great pleasure to meet one of his jazz heroes Coco Schumann who expressed a great appreciation and fondness for his work. In 2003, Terry moved to Porto Seguro in the Bahia municipality of north-east Brazil where the vibrant colours, wildlife and tribal cultures played a significant part in the numerous paintings and sketches he would complete during his time there and in the future.

As well as spending his time painting and travelling, he was commissioned by the proprietors of a Portuguese and Jamaican themed beach restaurant and music venue, That Shack, to bring the venue to life through murals painted in his own unique style.

The Present

Terry Durham currently resides in Alora, a village in the province of Malaga, Andalucia, Spain, where he has lived and worked since 2007. He has had major individual and combined exhibitions in both Alora and Malaga and participated in regional art competitions. When not painting professionally he teaches art classes for children and adults. His work can also be seen in various establishments in Alora as murals and caricatures, and he is widely and fondly known in the area as 'el artista' (the artist) or 'el maestro' (the teacher).