Life and Works
Born 1950, Cheshire; son of Gordon Pollock, traditional claypipe manufacturer (John Pollock and Co, Ancoats).
Education.
Ian Pollock received a BA First Class Honours, Manchester Polytechnic, (1970-1973.)
He went on to the Royal College of Art, completing a Master of Arts Degree (1973-1976.)
Pollock received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts from Wolverhampton University. (Conferred 3 September 2001)
Thirty Years of Illustration.
He has been illustrating for the last thirty years. Since leaving the Royal College of Art in the 1970s Pollock has been at the forefront of contemporary British Illustration. His anarchistic and uncompromising approach to his subject matter has made him a highly respected illustrator both in the UK and the international arena.
From the Rolling Stone
to the Radio Times .
Pollock has worked for “most major magazines and newspapers” on both sides of the Atlantic: Rolling Stone, Playboy, Penthouse, New Yorker, Talk, Esquire, GQ, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Elle, Country Life, Radio Times, New Scientist, Creative Review, Design Week, Stern, The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Guardian, The Observer, the Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph amongst others “too many to mention...”.
Other commissions include Posters for the Royal Shakespeare Company and a set of postage stamps, “Tales of Terror”, for the Royal Mail. He has numerous illustrated books to his credit, most noteworthy being an illustrated cartoon version of Shakespeare’s King Lear for Oval Projects, Milton’s Paradise Lost for the Folio Society, and The Brothers of the Head by Brian Aldiss (recently made into a film).
Exhibitions..
He has lectured in colleges of art throughout the country and has enjoyed numerous one-man exhibitions including a retrospective show of his graphic work at the Littleton Theatre on the South Bank; and, most recently “The Miracles and Parables of Christ” and “Pollock’s New Testament” at the European Illustration Collection Gallery Hull (EICH Gallery).
Current Work.
Ian Pollock, now in his twilight, lives a quasi-bucolic existence in Macclesfield tending his giant hogweeds, taking on the occasional commission whilst continuing his acerbic and mischievous illustrations.
“He’s one of those rare animals that have opted to be free.”
De Guiche (from Cyrano de Bergerac)