Sam Ainsley (born 1950) is a British artist and teacher, living and working in Glasgow, who was the founder and former head of the Master of Fine Art (MFA) programme at the Glasgow School of Art.
Biography
Ainsley was born in
North Shields
North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth.
Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...
, then
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
and now in
North Tyneside
North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It forms part of the greater Tyneside conurbation. North Tyneside Council is headquartered at Cobalt Park, Wallsend.
North Tyneside is bordered ...
.
In 1973 she completed the one-year foundation course at the
Jacob Kramer College in Leeds and until 1977 she studied painting at
Newcastle Polytechnic
, mottoeng = A lifetime of learning
, established = 1877 - Rutherford College of Technology1969 - Newcastle Polytechnic1992 - gained university status
, type = Public
, budget = Â ...
. In 1975 she spent six weeks in Japan studying
Sukiya Sukiya may refer to:
* Sukiya-zukuri, traditional Japanese interior
* a synonym for chashitsu, a Japanese tea room
* Sukiya (restaurant chain)
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architecture which led to her using a very limited palette of colours but with an emphasis on texture and materials.
After graduating from Newcastle, Ainsley spent a year in postgraduate study at
Edinburgh College of Art
Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...
. When she completed her post-graduate diploma there in 1978, an Andrew Grant fellowship award allowed to her to teach part-time in the same department for a year.
Following a visit to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1979, Ainsley began using unstretched, shaped canvases and her work developed from monochrome canvases into abstract shapes using the full colour spectrum
Her Postgraduate work was heavily influenced by her time in Japan and her interest in Japanese culture
In 1982 Ainsley created a series of banners for the inauguration of the
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is part of the National Galleries of Scotland, which are based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The National Gallery of Modern Art houses the collection of modern and contemporary art dating from about 1900 to th ...
's new building in Edinburgh.
A commission for a thirty-foot tapestry woven at the Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh for the headquarters building of the
General Accident
General Accident plc was a large insurance business based in Perth, Scotland. It merged with Commercial Union in 1998 to form CGU plc.
History
The Norie-Miller years
The Employers' liability act of 1880 opened a new area of insurance and one ...
insurance company in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
was completed in 1983.
Her 1985 ''Banner for Greenham'' represented Ainsley's political concerns and featured images of the circle of women protesting at Greenham Common.
A solo show of Ainsley's work was held at the
Third Eye
The third eye (also called the mind's eye or inner eye) is a mystical invisible eye, usually depicted as located on the forehead, which provides perception beyond ordinary sight. In Hinduism, the third eye refers to the ajna (or brow) chakra. In ...
Centre in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
in 1987, a semi autobiographical installation entitled 'Why I Choose Red', her first major one person exhibition in Scotland. In 2004 she was also included in the permanent collection of women artists in the
New Hall, Cambridge
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
collection.
From 1985 Ainsley taught at the
Glasgow School of Art
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and ...
in Environmental Art before co-founding the School's MFA course in 1989
with fellow GSA lecturer John Calcutt. Ainsley was appointed as the MFA programme director in 1991 and held the post until 2005.
Since leaving full-time teaching, Ainsley has continued to paint and participated in a number of joint and solo exhibitions.
Ainsley is a respected and published spokeswoman for the visual arts and her own artwork is in a number of public and private collections nationally and internationally.
Ainsley has contributed to a broad range of visual art initiatives in Scotland and has served as a board member on many arts organisations. She has exhibited in and curated independent exhibitions and undertaken residencies in numerous institutions and arts organisations across the USA, Australasia, Europe and the UK. More recent presentations of her work include the ''New Scots,''
RSA Edinburgh, ''Atlas of Encounters'' at
I Space Gallery, Chicago and Athens, ''Live your Questions Now'' and ''Studio 58'', Mackintosh Museum,
GSA and ''After Growth and Form'',
Glasgow Print Studio
Glasgow Print Studio is an arts organisation situated in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1972, Glasgow Print Studio is an organisation with charitable status that exists to encourage and promote the art of printmaking; it is supported by the Crea ...
. in 2017 she was invited to have a one person exhibition at An Tobar on the
Isle of Mull
The Isle of Mull ( gd, An t-Eilean Muileach ) or just Mull (; gd, Muile, links=no ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the Council areas of Scotland, council area of Arg ...
. A full colour catalogue is available. Ainsley was also represented in two recent exhibitions in Edinburgh and Glasgow to mark the 30th anniversary of ''
The Vigorous Imagination'', a landmark exhibition held the
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is part of the National Galleries of Scotland, which are based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The National Gallery of Modern Art houses the collection of modern and contemporary art dating from about 1900 to th ...
in 1987. She was also elected to the Royal Scottish Academy and was inducted into the 'Outstanding Women of Scotland' by the
Saltire Society
The Saltire Society is a membership organisation which aims to promote the understanding of the culture and heritage of Scotland. Founded in 1936, the society was "set up to promote and celebrate the uniqueness of Scottish culture and Scotland’s ...
in 2017.
She has worked collaboratively with
David Harding and
Sandy Moffat a
AHMref> and continues to work independently in her studio.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ainsley, Sam
1950 births
Living people
20th-century Scottish women artists
21st-century Scottish women artists
Alumni of Leeds Arts University
Alumni of Northumbria University
Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art
Artists from Glasgow
People from North Shields
Tapestry artists
Women textile artists