Hurvin Anderson in an education role

This residency has been an intensely private journey, but the communication has not been entirely one-way, or entirely inside Anderson’s head. He was required to take on a teaching role during his time at the Gallery.

The award-winning Education Department at Dulwich Picture Gallery seeks to bring fine art to as wide an audience as possible and encourage personal creativity, regardless of ability or background. Anderson’s contribution to this has been greatly valued.

During the year, Hurvin Anderson has worked with sixth-form art students of Archbishop Tenison’s School in Oval, South London and taught a social inclusion group at the Gallery. Working with A-level students was a new and challenging experience for Anderson. He developed a strong rapport with the students, many of whom have serious artistic aspirations, and in turn they enjoyed learning more about the life of a professional artist. He was demanding and rigorous in his teaching yet encouraging throughout the process.

The residency provided the opportunity for the students to work from a life model for the first time. The project was extremely successful and resulted in each student producing high quality life drawings for their portfolio - a valuable contribution, as all have applied to Chelsea School of Art.

The Club is a weekly practical art class for registered unemployed people and forms part of the Gallery’s social inclusion programme. Like all practical classes at the Gallery, these take place in the light and spacious Sackler Centre for Arts Education. They are designed to offer a way for people to continue developing artistic interests, skills and ideas in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. It was a mutually enriching experience for all involved. Anderson demonstrated how to approach a collection of Old Masters with fresh eyes, and also learnt the lively, anecdotal history of the place from Club members, many of whom have been coming to the Gallery for years.

The teaching role has been a new experience for the artist, one that we can be sure intensified the crucial internal dialogue that resulted in the works on display.