Overview

Derek Jarman was one of the most influential British artists of the twentieth century. His practice - as diverse as it was prolific - spanned painting, sculpture, film, writing, stage design, gardening and activism. 


Studying at the Slade School of Fine Art in the 1960s, Jarman was equally attentive to developments in film and theatre design as to painting, beginning his career designing the sets for Frederick Ashton's Jazz Calendar at the Royal Opera House, John Gielgud's Don Giovanni at the London Coliseum, and for the films of Ken Russell. All the while Jarman was gaining increasing recognition for his painting, going from exhibiting as part of the Young Contemporaries at Tate, London, to frequent shows at the likes of the Lisson, Edward Tohah and Richard Salmon galleries.


Jarman was an outspoken campaigner for LGBTQIA+ rights, and was one of the first public figures in the UK to raise awareness for those living with HIV and AIDS, announcing his own HIV diagnosis on radio in 1986. 


From there Jarman entered a period of prolific writing, publishing his celebrated memoir Modern Nature in 1991, an account that chronicled another of his crowning artistic achievements: his garden at Prospect Cottage, Dungeness, a site that continues to welcome visitors today. The canvases of his last years - assemblages of gutter press homophobic headlines, religious iconography, plants, rubbish, and fierce poetic screeds scored into oil paint - speak of an artist whose legacy precedes him.

Works
  • Derek Jarman, Dizzy Bitch, 1993
    Dizzy Bitch, 1993
  • Derek Jarman, Infection, 1993
    Infection, 1993
  • Derek Jarman, Acid Rain, 1992
    Acid Rain, 1992
  • Derek Jarman, Act Up, 1992
    Act Up, 1992
  • Derek Jarman, Aids Isle, 1992
    Aids Isle, 1992
  • Derek Jarman, Blackmail, 1992
    Blackmail, 1992
  • Derek Jarman, Dead Angels, 1992
    Dead Angels, 1992
  • Derek Jarman, Love Sex Death, 1992
    Love Sex Death, 1992
  • Derek Jarman, Now we’ve all been screwed by the cabinet, 1992
    Now we’ve all been screwed by the cabinet, 1992
  • Derek Jarman, Oh Zone, 1992
    Oh Zone, 1992
  • Derek Jarman, Positive, 1992
    Positive, 1992
  • Derek Jarman, Prospect (Et in Arcadia Ego), 1992
    Prospect (Et in Arcadia Ego), 1992
  • Derek Jarman, Tragedy, 1992
    Tragedy, 1992
  • Derek Jarman, TV Star, 1992
    TV Star, 1992
  • Derek Jarman, Landscape, 1991
    Landscape, 1991
  • Derek Jarman, Landscape, 1991
    Landscape, 1991
  • Derek Jarman, Prospect, 1991
    Prospect, 1991
  • Derek Jarman, Prospect / Untitled (Good / Evil / Love), 1990
    Prospect / Untitled (Good / Evil / Love), 1990
  • Derek Jarman, T.B. or not T.B., 1990
    T.B. or not T.B., 1990
  • Derek Jarman, Andy, 1989
    Andy, 1989
  • Derek Jarman, Household God I (Handel), 1989
    Household God I (Handel), 1989
  • Derek Jarman, Leviticus, 1989
    Leviticus, 1989
  • Derek Jarman, The Boy Who Drowned in Holy Water, 1989
    The Boy Who Drowned in Holy Water, 1989
  • Derek Jarman, Untitled (Clothes), 1989
    Untitled (Clothes), 1989
  • Derek Jarman, A PLANT, 1988
    A PLANT, 1988
  • Derek Jarman, At the Fifth Quarter of the Globe, 1988
    At the Fifth Quarter of the Globe, 1988
  • Derek Jarman, Film, 1988
    Film, 1988
  • Derek Jarman, I.N.R.I., 1988
    I.N.R.I., 1988
  • Derek Jarman, British Scum, 1987
    British Scum, 1987
  • Derek Jarman, Nightlife, 1987
    Nightlife, 1987
  • Derek Jarman, Prospect, 1987
    Prospect, 1987
  • Derek Jarman, The Tourist, 1987
    The Tourist, 1987
  • Derek Jarman, Eyes, 1986
    Eyes, 1986
  • Derek Jarman, Imagining October, 1984
    Imagining October, 1984
  • Derek Jarman, Men asleep are labourers and co-workers in what takes place in the world, 1983
    Men asleep are labourers and co-workers in what takes place in the world, 1983
  • Derek Jarman, Untitled (England II) (and clock), 1983
    Untitled (England II) (and clock), 1983
  • Derek Jarman, Irresistible Grace, 1982
    Irresistible Grace, 1982
  • Derek Jarman, The Spirit of the World, 1981
    The Spirit of the World, 1981
  • Derek Jarman, Untitled (Small Geometric Landscape), 1974
    Untitled (Small Geometric Landscape), 1974
  • Derek Jarman, Electric Fairy, 1971
    Electric Fairy, 1971
  • Derek Jarman, Study for Landscape, 1966
    Study for Landscape, 1966
Exhibitions
Publications