British artist David Robilliard was one of the first artists to capture London’s Shoreditch in the late 1970s, where he established his practice. Since his premature death from an AIDS-related illness in 1988, Robilliard’s quotidian storytelling has been embraced by critics and collectors, and recognised through retrospective exhibitions in London and Amsterdam. Published by Rob Tufnell, this publication reproduces 92 of the artist’s works on paper in an OTA-bound book.
Inspired by writers such Christopher Isherwood and U.A. Fanthorpe, Robilliard recorded what he saw and heard around him, from Market Café in Spitalfields and The Bell in Kings Cross to Heaven under Charing Cross. The drawing subjects are eclectic – from domestic pets and exotic beasts, to pop stars, comic book characters and historical figures – and are accompanied by Robillard’s poems, aphorisms and exclamations.
