UK comedian and art prize judge Phill Jupitus is a new fan of UHI Inverness art lecturer artist Frank To
Award-winning Scottish artist and UHI Inverness art lecturer Frank To has emerged triumphant from the Royal Ulster Academy in Belfast after his gunpowder artwork sold out.
Frank’s work attracted unprecedented attention at the exhibition, including from renowned British comedian and art prize judge Phill Jupitus who is now a fan of the artist.
Frank To is a Scottish contemporary artist whose unique art technique has garnered international recognition as a leading contemporary artist amongst art critics and high-profile collectors alike, including actor Sir Patrick Stewart, of Star Trek fame, and New York-based Michel Witmer, who hangs To’s paintings alongside those of Picasso, Dine and Warhol.
• Inverness art lecturer Frank To shortlisted for Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Art Prize
To said: “The thing I’m really grateful for is that my work at the Royal Ulster Academy was seen as the highest calibre by the selection panel which mainly consists of their academics who are some of the country’s most renowned artists. That. and to have sold out, has made me delighted with the outcome.
“Phill was invited by the Royal Ulster Academy this year to judge the prizes.
“He was also invited to exhibit a piece of his work. Initially when I first met him, it was a wee bit daunting as I used to watch him on television in the early 2000s.
“Funny thing is that he has become a massive fan of my work and likes the one I am exhibiting in the academy this year, Cours, Petit Lapin Cours.
“He was pretty fascinated by how I use gunpowder in my work.
“We have very similar sense of humour (mine is usually dark which suited Phil)l and we went to the same art school, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design.“
Commenting on To’s work, Phill said: “My favourite thing about meeting Frank To and having him explain his method, was that it was even more farfetched than what I was imagining.
“That tension between constraint and freedom in his work, is what makes the results all the more remarkable.”
Founded in 1879, the Royal Ulster Academy is the largest and longest established body of practicing visual artists in Northern Ireland.
One of the founding principles of the Academy was to hold an annual exhibition of work by both members and non–members of merit.
Now in its 141st year, this event remains one of the highlights of the Northern Ireland arts calendar.
Frank To’s ignited gunpowder artwork, Cours, Petit Lapin Cours; is currently on show in the Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition at the Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast, until 6 January 2025.
