Keith Cunningham in the late 1960s, courtesy Bobby Hillson
Back in 2001, I interviewed the graphic designer Keith Cunningham as part of a series I was working on for Design Week magazine. During the time I spent with Cunningham, I discovered that he had a closely guarded secret. Tucked away in a warehouse not far from his flat in Battersea was a locked room filled with over one hundred carefully covered canvases. These were paintings that Cunningham had created during his time at the Royal College of Art from 1954 to 1960.
Cunningham working on the painting shown (below) at his studio the early 1960s, courtesy Bobby Hillson
At the time, he exhibited at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, the Beaux-Arts Gallery and, for two consecutive years, the prestigious London Group show; this culminated in Cunningham being asked to submit work for full membership to the group – he declined. He then made the extraordinary decision to withdraw completely from any further public exhibition of his paintings. Instead, he worked in the solitary atmosphere of his studio in Battersea, where he would travel each day to work on his canvases.
As a result, all of the work created in that studio didn’t see the light of day for over four decades. Cunningham supported himself by teaching graphics at the London College of Printing, and many of his students would become significant figures in the design and advertising world. The discovery of the paintings formed part of the Design Week feature, and it was picked up by a little magazine called VERY. They asked if I could write a piece about Cunningham’s paintings.
Keith Cunningham died in 2014. Out of the blue, I had a call from a man who said he had all of Cunningham’s work stored in the basement of another warehouse. That warehouse turned out to be at the end of my street in Clerkenwell. The man who had the paintings was Stephen Rothholz, an accessories designer whose father, Hans Arnold Rothholz, was a well-known graphic designer in the early 1950s. Stephen was trying to help Cunningham’s widow Bobby Hillson to organise an exhibition of his paintings. Bobby was a fashion illustrator, former designer of children's clothing, and founder of the Saint Martin's School of Art MA Fashion and was the person responsible for discovering designer Alexander McQueen. She wanted to try and do something that had never happened in Keith’s lifetime: stage a solo exhibition of his work.
Stephen asked if I could help, so we put our heads together, determined to make it happen somehow. Through Facebook, I started to make contact with as many alumni of the London College of Printing from the 1960s to 1980s as possible, where Keith had taught graphics. Via Facebook, I reached out to anyone whom Keith might have taught and asked if they would help fund the show. Slowly but surely, money started to come in, along with affectionate memories of Keith as a tutor. A disused and slightly crumbling post office was found as a venue for the show. Stephen busied himself getting all the canvases cleaned, photographed and framed. Meanwhile, I designed and wrote the catalogue introduction. We then looked at what could be done to cheer up the empty post office space. With little money and the help of two of my daughters and several friends, it came together.
Two of my daughters who helped at the Hoxton Gallery. Fleur on the left and Jemima on the right, with my granddaughter, Yoko centre, during the run of the 2016 show of Cunningham's work.
In August 2016, the show happened. It was covered by the press and well attended, including by Frank Auerbach, who had attended the Royal College of Art and been good friends with Keith. Eighteen paintings were beautifully framed, hung and lit. It looked wonderful and half of the paintings sold; those that didn’t went back to the warehouse, to be stacked with the others that were not shown. Happily, we were able to fulfil Bobby’s wish, and she was thrilled to have Keith’s work finally shown.
So, that was it, I thought – job done. But a few months later, Stephen phoned to say that there was a sudden interest in the remaining paintings, and it looked highly likely that an art institution would acquire the whole lot. At the time, I was not allowed to reveal the institution. But now I can because over 70 of Keith Cunningham’s paintings will be on display in a solo show: Keith Cunningham: The Cloud of Witness at Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery , Newport Street, London SE11 6AJ from 16 February to 21 August. All are welcome to come to the press opening tomorrow 15th February between 6pm to 8pm. No RSVP required.
Thus ends a story that started 21 years ago with an interview and my probing and curiosity in discovering what Cunningham had done beyond his graphic work. But it would not have happened without the designers and supporters (you know who you are) who gave me money to help stage that little show in a semi-derelict Hoxton post office in 2016. Look at what your help has contributed to. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
To read the original 2001 Design Week interview with Keith Cunningham click HERE.
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