Artist Presentation - John Berry

Artist John Berry came to do a presentation at college a couple of days ago. He is a local artist who has been working at the Wasp art studios for 10 years, which is situated in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. Berry explained that throughout school,  he felt he had a different view than others,  he never settled within one group of people.  It wasn't until he began college in 1979, that he studied illustration and developed his interest in art. After college,  Berry then moved to London and spent the next 10 years doing illustration,  during this time he also worked as an artist on,  "The Snowman"  film. After that, Berry spent his time trying a variety of different work, he done some graphic design work, illustration, taught in Devon and even taught English in Istanbul.
Berry was inspired throughout his career by artists such as, Picasso,  for his association with collage, and Kurt schwitters.  Schwitters was a "massive inspiration"  to Berry.  Berry's style of work was analogue based, where he would use glue and scissors as his tools alongside his paper cuttings.  Although he was interested in graphic design and digital art, he preferred to take a hands on approach to produce his work.  The main materials for berry's work includes a large variety of unwanted things,  such as: books, magazines,  old black and white photos,  fabric,  tissue paper and discarded receipts, postcards, bus tickets and anything else he can find that's suitable.
Berry like his collages to be humorous,  fun and light hearted. Some of the collages he presented had animal heads on human bodies, some of which resembled a surrealism feel. He would also place people in "Out of context"  situations,  like cutting out images of people on a beach and placing them in a city scene.
Berry was very informative about how he approaches his work and what his interests are. I would have liked to see his illustrations though, as I am interested in his drawing style. Overall,  I felt it was a good presentation and it was interesting to see a different style of work in comparison to other Artists. Some of the artwork I found interesting is shown below :