Marc Vaux

Marc Vaux (born 29 November 1932, Swindon) is a British artist who rose to prominence in the 1960s. His work was included in the seminal Situation exhibition of 1960 alongside Robyn Denny, William Turnbull and Bernard Cohen among others. This exhibition was a direct reaction by British abstract artists to the recent exhibitions in London of the American Abstract Expressionists in particular the Tate's 1959 exhibition The New American Painting. Although originally headed for a career in Chemistry, Vaux eventually studied at the Slade School of Fine Art from 1957 to 1960 where he was awarded a Boise traveling scholarship which allowed him to travel in Italy, and later to work at the Jean Ponsa lithographic printing studio in Paris.

In 1986, after a long teaching career he was appointed Head of Painting at the Central/St Martins College of Art and Design in London where he stayed until he retired in 1989 to concentrate full-time on painting.

Vaux's work has variously been described as minimalist and constructivist although since his primary interest is in colour and light he has more in common with the American west coast artists than the New York minimalists.

Marc Vaux said: It [colour] is known to have a direct effect upon the central nervous system/human sensibility, arguably the most effective modifiers of human response, over sound and touch. It is dynamic - dependent on degree of colour, light, surrounding colours. Given the facts it is surprising it has taken so long to come to the position of recognising the effective power of colour alone – the endless potential of colour alone to communicate, affect and modify response.. it can be a pure visual experience equivalent to any other (experience). The nearest equivalent would be the sound of music. I see no reason why colour can't equate with melody and be as memorable. After all Albers wrote poems to equate with his paintings.

A monograph Marc Vaux was written by Vaux's long term supporter Norbert Lynton and published by 21 Publishing in 2005 .

The Tate Gallery holds a good collection of Vaux's work from 1959 to the present day.

Vaux's first commercial gallery exhibition was at the Grabowski Gallery in London with his then wife Tess Jaray. He was subsequently represented by the Axiom Gallery, Anderson O'Day and then the Redfern Gallery, since 1998 Marc Vaux has been represented by the London art dealer Bernard Jacobson and has had regular exhibitions there.

Exhibition History Year Selected Solo Exhibitions Gallery/Museum 2014 Marc Vaux: New Ovals, 2 may – 31 May 2014 Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London 2012 Full House: Paintings from 1964 Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London 2011 Featured Works Tate Britain 1998, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2010 Solo Shows Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London 1994, 1996 Featured Works Redfern Gallery, London 1993 Works on Paper from the Sixties Redfern Gallery, London 1991 Featured Works Anderson O’Day Gallery, London 1990 Featured Works Centre for International Contemporary Art, New York 1989 Featured Works Park Gallery, College of St Paul and St Mary, Cheltenham 1973 Featured Works (Two-person show with Tess Jaray) Whitechapel Art Gallery, London 1969 Featured Works Galerie Wilbrand, Cologne, Germany 1970 Featured Works Axiom Gallery, London 1967 Featured Works Axiom Gallery, London 1965 Featured Works Hamilton Galleries, London 1963 Featured Works (Two-person show with Tess Jaray) Grabowski Gallery, London

Year Selected Group Exhibitions Gallery/Museum 2017 Gallery Artists Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London 2013 Moving - Norman Foster On Art Carré d´art - Musée d´art contemporain de Nîmes, Nîmes, France 2012 Summer Group Show' Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London 2012 Coherent Surface, Radiant Light Bernard Jacobson Gallery, New York 2011 How to carry the World On One's Back? Deichtorhallen, Hamburg 2011 How to carry the World On One's Back? Deichtorhallen, Hamburg 2011 Double Exhibition Broadbent, London 2011 Gallery Group Show Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London 2010 'Exhibitions Round-up: lifting the heart Flowers Gallery, London 2009 The Louvre during the War - Photographs 1938 - 1947' Musée du Louvre, Paris 2006 Definite Article Toomey-Tourell Gallery, San Francisco 2006 Caro, Denny, Smith and Vaux, The ‘60s Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London 2005 'Paintings 1959 – 2005 Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London 2005 Definite Article Vertigo Gallery, London 2004 White 120 Gallery, London 2004 The Discerning Eye Mall Galleries, London 2003 London Group Gallery 27, London 2003 Jerwood Prize Exhibition Jerwood Space, London 2002 'Space Vehicles McClain Gallery, Houston, Texas 1998 The Discerning Eye Mall Galleries, London 1997 Light Mixed exhibition, Richard Salmon Gallery 1997 Light Mixed exhibition, Spacex Gallery, Exeter 1996 Drawings Spring Mixed Exhibition, Redfern Gallery 1996 Cheltenham Open Drawing Exhibition Cheltenham 1996 British Abstract Art Drawings, Flowers East, London 1994 London Group Barbican Gallery, London 1994 British Abstract Art Flowers East, London 1994 Tensions Curwen Gallery, London 1993 Mixed Show Redfern Gallery, London 1993 The Sixties Scene in London Barbican Gallery, London 1993 Mixed Spring Show Redfern Gallery, London 1993 London Group Barbican Gallery, London 1992 Concentrazione Torino, Italy 1992 Mixed Summer Show Redfern Gallery, London 1991 Small is Beautiful Abstract, Flowers East, London 1989 London Group Gulbenkian Hall, Royal College of Art, London 1989 The Exhibition of New Art in East London Whitechapel Art Gallery, London 1988 London Group Gulbenkian Hall, Royal College of Art, London 1985 John Moores Liverpool Exhibition 14 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool 1985 Thirty London Painters Royal Academy, London 1984 London Group Gulbenkian Hall, Royal College of Art, London 1981 Contemporary Artists in Camden Camden Arts Centre, London 1979 The Whitechapel Summer Show ’79 Whitechapel Art Gallery, London 1976 Deck of Cards JPL Fine Art, London 1976 AIR Exhibition 6 AIR Gallery, London 1975 Mai Külföldt Graphika Magyar Gyüjtemenyekben I Egyetem Galélia, Debrecen, Hungary 1974-5 'Artistas Graphicos Britanicos de la Década del 60/Gravures de Artistas Britanicos na Década dos 60 British Council touring exhibition in South America 1974 British Painting ‘74 Hayward Gallery, London 1974 Künstler Machen Gahnen für Rottweil Stadtfest Rottwed 74, Federal Republic of Germany 1972 Grabados Ingleses Contemporaneous 60-70 Museo Español de Arte Contemporaneous, Madrid (British Council touring exhibition) 1970 3rd Salon International de Galeries Pilotes: Artistes et Découvreurs de Notre Temps Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris 1970 The Captain Cook Bicentenary: Colour and Structure - Recent British and Australian Paintings Farmers Blaxland Gallery, Sydney, Australia 1970 Some Recent Art in Britain Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds, England 1969 Konzeptionelle Bilder Westfälisher Kunsteverein, Münster, Federal Republic of Germany 1969 Recent British Prints IBM Gallery, New York 1969 Fine Art for Industry RCA Gallery, London 1969 Contemporary British Graphics British Council touring exhibition in the US 1968 100th Exhibition Grabowski Gallery, London 1968 British Painting: Collection of Leicestershire Education Authority Whitechapel Art Gallery, London 1968 Grabados de Artistas Britanicos Nuevas Tendencias 1968 Galeria de Exposiciones Temporales, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City 1968 Twenty-five Camden Artists Central Library, Swiss Cottage, London 1967 The Ninth International Art Exhibition of Japan the Mainighi Newspaper and the Japan International Art Promotion Association, Tokyo 1967 Brittiska Gouacher och Färggragik Sundsvalls Konstförening Sundsvall, Sweden VI John Moores Liverpool Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool 1967 Transatlantic Graphics Camden Arts Centre, London 1967 Six Artists: Denny, Hoyland, Vaux, Lancaster, Boshier, Evans Victoria and Albert Museum, London 1967 Society of Scottish Artists 73rd Exhibition of Painting Sculpture, Drawings, Applied Art and Architecture Royal Scottish Academy Galleries, Edinburgh, Scotland 1967 Junge Engländer Galerie Heide Hildebrand, Klangenfurt, Austria 1967 Graphick Junger Engländer Glaerie Alice Pauli, Lausanne, Switzerland 1967 Spring Exhibition 1967 Bradford City Art Gallery, Bradford 1966 London Under Forty Galleria Milano, Milan, Italy 1966 Vormen van de Kleur Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Württembergischer Kunstvetein, Stuttgart, Federal Republic of Germany; and Kunsthalle, Bern, Switzerland 1966 Form and Image Leeds Institute Gallery, Leeds, England 1966 Spring Exhibition 1966 Bradford City Art Gallery, Bradford 1966 Hamilton Artists Hamilton Galleries, London 1965-68 Recent Prints by Some British Painters and Sculptors British Council touring exhibition in India 1965 John Moores Liverpool Exhibition Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool 1965 Syn Galerie Vaier, Mainz and Galerie Margarete Lauter, Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany 1965 Premio Internazionale Biella Per l’Incisione Circolo degli Artisti di Biella, Biella, Italy 1965 Spring Exhibition 1965 Bradford City Art Gallery, Bradford 1965 Second Commonwealth Biennial of Abstract Art Commonwealth Institute, London 1964 About Round: London Galleries Leeds University, Leeds, England 1964 Spring Exhibition 1964 Bradford City Art Gallery, Bradford 1963 V Mednarodna Graficna Rozstava/V Exposition Internationale de Gravure Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia 1962-3 Situation: An Exhibition of Recent British Abstract Art British Arts Council touring exhibition in England 1962 9 Painters from England Galleria Trastevere, Rome 1961 Neu Malerei in England Städtisches Museum, Leverkusen, Germany 1961 2nd Biennale de Paris Musee d’Art Moderne, Paris 1961 New London Situation: And Exhibition of British Abstract Art New London Gallery, London 1960 London Group R.B.A. Galleries, London 1960 Situation: British Abstract Art R.B.A. Galleries, London 1959-60 Young Contemporaries R.B.A. Galleries, London