Cyril Power | Grosvenor School Artists

Monday, 12 April 2010 00:00

I initially discovered the work of the Grosvenor School of artists by accident. One afternoon many years ago in the British Museum I was trying unsuccessfully to find the toilet when I discovered a tiny and unpromoted exhibition of a few Grosvenor School prints hidden away on a back stair. I was totally blown away and they have been a major inspiration on my work ever since.

My favourite Grosvenor School artist is Cyril Power [1872-1951]. The dynamism of his imagery, graphic style, and his focus on humanity have been a major inspiration on my own work.

Cyril Power began his career as an architect before moving to London with fellow Grosvenor School artist Sybil Andrews with who he later collaborated on works.

Like his Grosvenor School contemporaries, Power was inspired by the Futurists and Vorticists. His work focussed on mechanisation, speed and the new technology which seemed to trap rather than empower the individual. Under the tutelage of Claude Flight, he embraced lino cutting as a democratic printing method as it was cheap and easily available to all. Power's graphic style was a perfect match for the flat colours and shapes that could be created by printing with lino.

Cyril Power was fascinated by the alienation of humanity in the period between the world wars. Much of his work looked at the anonymity of workers trapped in the cogs of the machine of industry. Faceless uniform people descend into the bowels of the machine on endless tube escalators. I personally love the way he looks at humanity swept along by life, something that has parallels in my own work.

Power produced forty five linocuts during his career. He was also prolific in etching and monotype. Sadly his lino blocks were destroyed shortly after his death in 1951.