John Atkin

Reader in Fine Art, Loughborough University
Henry Moore OM CH personally funded Atkin throughout his MA sculpture course at the RCA in London. Since then, he has exhibited his work worldwide: e.g., the Guggenheim Museum in Italy, Museum of Modern Art Melbourne and New Orleans Museum of Art - are three such examples of high-profile venues worldwide. Recent publications on Atkins’ public art output focus on references to cultural heritage within urban design.

Atkin has been invited to present keynote papers at a number of conferences worldwide including, 16th China Sculpture Forum. DIAOSU- National Sculpture Magazine of China: Sculpture by the Sea Symposium -Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, Australia: Understanding the Post-Industrial City: Universidade Técnica de Lisboa Bauhaus – Lisbon, Portugal: International Sculpture Centre Conference, Pittsburgh USA: Curating in Action – Art as Social Practice, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China.

Atkin is Reader in Fine Art and Director of Internationalisation at Loughborough University, and has lectured at numerous institutions worldwide, including Boston University: Tsinghua University, Beijing: Virginia Commonwealth University: Kansas City Art Institute: Hartford University, CT.: Sydney College of the Arts: Victoria College Melbourne: The Curtin Institute, Perth.

He is Honorary Fellow, National Academy of Sculpture, Beijing, and Fellow at the Royal Society of Sculptors, London.

John Atkin has developed a substantial body of work over the past 40 years which has been exhibited worldwide in the form of solo and group exhibitions, as well as public art. His research interests have evolved from the use of the found object as a metaphor for human identity into how outcomes from such research can be embedded into the public realm via regeneration projects worldwide.

His early work is characterised by a series of figurative artworks which explore his own identity through the examination of family relationships, principally his father. The resulting artworks, sculpture, installation, tableaux, painting, film, screenplay formed the basis of a series of exhibitions, Juda Rowan Gallery London, Hatton Gallery, Ceolfrith Gallery.

Themes of conflict permeated his output, which led to the development of further works influenced by study visits to, the Imperial War Museum, Wallace Collection, First World War poetry. Outcomes have been exhibited widely, from the Peggy Guggenheim Museum Italy, to Olympic Park Beijing.

His output has straddled the digital-divide, where one half of his career is characterised by traditional making processes, and since 2003 has become an increasing synthesis of digital and traditional methods of making. Drawing has been the central plank of this extensive activity, recognised by significant awards from, the Rootstein Hopkins Foundation, Royal College of Art, and Loughborough University.

Atkin continues to work with Interdisciplinary Design Teams, where the role of art in urban regeneration projects and urban design are key factors in shaping public space. To this end, he collaborates with Architects, Urban Designers, Landscape Architects, City Planners, Highway Engineers, Environmental Designers, Civil & Building Engineers, and other Design groups.

Although his studio is the discreet environment for developing ideas, his work takes place worldwide, often working as an embedded component in fabrication team’s, as well as community groups, where history and heritage are prerequisites of a projects aims and objectives.