Tony Blackmore lives and works in London. He attained a first class BA (Hons) in Fine Art Sculpture from Kingston University in 1993, a Postgraduate Diploma from the Cyprus College of Art in 2004 and an MA in Fine Art from the Wimbledon College of Art in 2013.
Tony specialises in creating hand-folded reliefs using a single sheet of drafting film; a polyester-based film traditionally used by architects. Patterns, derived from simple numerical sequencing and created using only pencil and paper, form the composition of each relief before the drafting film is laid on top. Each line is then individually scored by hand before being hand-folded to create a relief form. As Tony says,
“I enjoy the discipline that’s required in the making of each folded surface. I find the creative process akin to a form of meditation and can be totally absorbed for hours at a time. There is always an element of surprise that I find hugely rewarding when a final form emerges.“
Due to the matte transluscent quality of the film, subtle illusions of shapes and patterns appear to gradually change in tone as the angle of view or illumination changes. This creates additional depth and movement in the artwork.
Tony also creates smaller artworks in colour by adding underlying layers of photographic lighting gels so the artwork’s surface colours appear to change in tone. He has recently experimented with layering up to four layers of drafting film. Set against a charcoal grey background, the differing transluscencies and opacities, highlight how the shapes evolve within the composition as they appear to travel across each artwork’s relief surface.
Since 2018, Tony has been represented by Cube Gallery, London. In the same year, he took part in the 250th anniversary of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and became a Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors (MRSS). The following year, he completed a commission for the penthouse suites at the five-star St.Regis Hotel in central Venice.
So far in 2024, he has co-curated and participated in group show ‘Material Transformations‘ at Cube Gallery, London. As Project and Artist Support for the 2024 E17 Art Trail, an artist-led community powered arts festival in Walthamstow, East London, he has co-produced, as well as participated in Yes! Art; a celebration of local emerging and established artists at the William Morris Gallery. During the summer, he participated in group show Striations at CLOSE, a rural contemporary art gallery in South Somerset founded by curator and art advisor Freeny Yianni RSA, and also had work displayed in the 2024 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.
As a testament to his artwork, Tony is a Member of the Royal Society of Sculpture (MRSS)
Created for the 2021 E17 Art Trail, you can watch an introduction to his practice here.
Contact and sales
Tony is available to undertake commissions. If this is of interest to you, please contact [email protected] for an initial conversation as to the style and size you think you might like. You may have more ideas by following his activities and artwork on Instagram at @tonyblackmoreart. More information is available on the Commissions page of this website.
His signature large format artworks are currently for sale at Cube Gallery, London.
Selected exhibitions
2024 / Striations, CLOSE Ltd, Hatch Beauchamp, Somerset
2024 / Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London
2024 / Yes! Art, William Morris Gallery, London
2024 / Material Transformations, Cube Gallery, London
2022 / Grosvenor House Suites, Mayfair
2021 / At a Tangent / Cut Gallery, Halesworth, Suffolk
2020 / Cut, Fold, Burn / Cube Gallery / London
2019 / Iterations / Arthouse 1 / London
2019 / Possible Architectures / Stephen Lawrence Gallery / London
2019 / Royal Society of Sculptors (RSS) Summer Exhibition / RSS HQ / London
2018 / ING Discerning Eye / Mall Galleries / London
2018 / Wild / Quaker House Gardens / London
2018 / Royal Academy Summer Exhibition / Royal Academy / London
2018 / The Momentum / Angus Hughes Gallery / London
2018 / Brighton Open Houses / Studio 93a / Brighton
2018 / Saturation Point Summer Salon / ACME Studios
2017 / A Many-Sided Thing – A Residency of Collaborations, / Wimbledon Gallery / London
2017 / Folded Geometries / Walthamstow Village Window Gallery / London
2017 / Sacred Geometry / St.Peter’s-in-the-Forest Church / Epping Forest, London
2016 / On our Way to Where, with ‘Drawing Connections / hARTslane Project Space / London
2016 / GX Revolving Gallery / GX Gallery / London
2015 / Making Waves / Walthamstow Village Window Gallery / London
2015 / Static Motion / Orso Major Gallery / London
2013 – Down the Dori / Tokyo Wondersite / Tokyo
2012 – Wunderkammer / The Nunnery / London
2012 – TRUST/ Morden Hall Park / London