1960 – 1976: LONDON
In the 1960s London was being transformed into a new global centre for making and selling art.
At this time Brian Rice was introduced to the ‘RCA crowd’, including David Hockney, Peter Blake and Allen Jones. A spontaneous trip to the Sahara Desert with Jones and Boshier led to a revelation for him. He would commit to a life of painting and printmaking.
From 1966 – 1970, Brian was producing screen prints for the American dealer Eugene Schuster of London Graphic Arts. This commission raised the profile of his work and provided financial security.
In the early ’70s he experimented with systemised and theoretical colour-mixing charts, but eventually concluded that he had exhausted the possibilities of this art. He decided to leave London and moved back to the West Country.
Brian Rice in his Cromwell Road flat, London, 1965 
Brian Rice at the New Vision Centre, London, 1965
Oil and mixed media on board, 91 x 121 cm
This painting was made after Brian Rice’s return home from Spain and Morocco and is part of a series he painted at his parents’ house in Montacute. Brian Rice’s studio was set up in a disused chicken shed. Due to a lack of funds many of these works were created using household paint to which sand had been added to provide texture and remove shine.
Linocut, 76 x 51 cm (Screenprint, 1999)
Kuroi is part of Brian Rice’s series of paintings and prints inspired by Japanese banners and by his longstanding interest in heraldry. To create these prints he cut eight lino blocks, using a different combination of the blocks for each print.
Oil on 33 canvasses, 97 x 224 cm
Brian Rice’s multi-canvas shaped paintings were first made in 1963 from his flat on Cromwell Road. They use sequences of repeated shapes and are among his best-known works.
Acrylic on canvas, 121 x 121 cm
Blue Black Sunrise is reflective of Brian Rice’s lifelong interest in architecture, in this case the Art Deco style. He explored the sunrise motif further with Tony Evans, a friend and renowned photographer.
Screenprint, 76 x 76 cm
This screenprint was made for Brian Rice’s 1964 exhibition at the New Vision Centre and was printed by Ward Studios of Yeovil. It was an immediate success and was acquired by the Tate Gallery for its collection.
Acrylic on board, 94 x 94 x 94 cm
Between 1970 and 1973 Brian Rice embarked on a series of large colour system paintings. All of these works used triangular shaped canvas with numerous subdivisions. Each of the canvases were painted according to a planned chart of colour mixtures. Many of the canvases were damaged by flood water and destroyed; only three small paintings, including this one, remain.
Gallery