Brian Grimwood: The Man Who Changed the Look of British Illustration

Grimwood came to prominence in the 1960s when the development of his fluid style and imaginative composition chimed with the emerging visual culture of the decade.

He worked on illustration for publications ranging from radical woman’s magazine Nova to the Radio Times, as well as ads across a career punctuated by identity work for Faber&Faber, BBC Proms, WH Smith and Johnny Walker.

Grimwood is recognised for adopting computer illustration early on, and sticking with it as it has developed. His Photoshop and iPad work will sit beside freehand work in the retrospective.

The legacy of Grimwood’s influence is quite a direct one, beyond style and technique, in that he is the founding director of the Central Illustration Agency, a collective which has Sir Peter Blake, Jeff Fisher, and David Hughes on its books, among some 80 other illustrators.

There will also be a chance to see sketchbooks, private commissions, and a series of paintings applied to antiquarian linen book covers. 

An eponymously titled book will be published by Black Dog Publishing in September featuring much of the content from the exhibition.

Brian Grimwood: The Man Who Changed the Look of Illustration runs from 14 September – 3 November at Work gallery, 10a Acton Street, WC1