The undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Fine Art at the University have established a reputation in the southern region for the production of critically engaged and skilled work across the full range of contemporary fine art practices. The relationship between research, commissioned work and individual artistic practice among the fine art staff team ensures the continued vibrancy and strength of their commitment to their art and the continued ‘currency’ of their role as educators and teachers.

Steve McDade is Subject Leader for Fine Art and has exhibited widely in Europe and in the UK. He joined the University in 2004, having worked in a number of universities and colleges across the UK, and leads an exceptional team of artists and educators.

Practise as Research

Otter Gallery Exhibition, February 2008: Continuing their exploration of practice as research, members of  the University's Fine Art teaching staff examined the boundaries of drawing. View web gallery for Practice as Research

This exhibition continued the series of ‘Practise as Research’ focusing on the visual research activities currently engaged in by the Fine Art staff at the University of Chichester.

The Intervention Exhibition at Worthing Museum also includes work by Fine Art staff from Chichester, displaying contemporary work alongside museum pieces.

Previous research work include ‘Test Bed’ at the Otter Gallery as a ‘testing-ground’ for formulating new work. This exhibition presented further dialogue that each of the staff have with their individual research.

Drawing is central to the process of visualising, testing and refining ideas into their most appropriate form.

In this exhibition the notion of drawing encompasses a broad definition of the term. The work presents a range of practices including the written word, photography, film animation, computer telemetry, direct observational drawing and drawings as objects. All the work is either propositional or refined into completion. All of it invites the viewer to ‘draw out’ their own interpretation.

Drawing has a dual role. It can be seen as a speculative initial testing of an idea or can be seen as the completed final form.

Drawing within the undergraduate Fine Art programme of the University is seen as a fundamental activity in the process of creating visual work. In this regard it continues an age-old procedure that can be traced back to the very origins of giving visual form to our understanding of the world, in apprehending the phenomenon of sight and of vision.

The undergraduate programme begins with drawing and establishes the relationship between practice and theory. In its widest application, drawing is a means of drawing-out, drawing-in, drawing-towards and drawing-on each individual’s response to the world.

Drawing is a formidable research tool.

Steve McDade
Subject Leader Fine Art
February 2008