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Ninety-three-year-old artist Quentin Blake’s scratchy illustrations are recognised the world over, beloved for capturing all the mischief and magic behind stories like Fantastic Mr Fox or Matilda. But instead of resting on his laurels, he’s spent the past two decades trying to get a new project off the ground, one that’ll foster a new generation of British illustration talent.
In 2002, he set up a charity for illustration, and between 2014–2020 the House of Illustration hosted small exhibitions in a temporary space in King’s Cross. Now, London’s on the brink of getting a permanent centre for illustration, named after its biggest champion: ‘I am proud to think the centre has my name on it – illustration is a wonderful universal and varied language,’ said Sir Quentin.
The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration will be housed in a formerly-derelict 18th century waterworks in Clerkenwell: an imposing brown brick building surrounded by gardens and cobbled terraces. Inside, visitors will find three exhibition spaces, a shop, a cafe, plus a free-to-access library and creative studio for aspiring illustrators to hone their skills.
Works have been underway for some time, and now, there’s finally an official opening date: Friday 5th June, this year. The gallery’s debut exhibition MURUGIAH: Ever Feel Like will showcase the surreal world of British Sri-Lankan illustrator Murugiah, who explores identity and mental health in pop art-inspired cartoons.
Opening at the same time will be an exhibition called Queer as Comics, which will gather together the comics, strip cartoons, graphic novels and zines that have explored LGBTQIA+ lives since the 1940s, from Tove Jansson to Alison Bechdel.
The museum’s third exhibition space will house a show called Quentin Blake: Performance, which will use over 100 works by the illustrator to showcase his love of theatre, whether it’s sketches to accompany reviews of Laurence Olivier’s legendary performances, illustrations for a new edition of Macbeth, or quaint evocations of puppet shows at the British seaside.
The £12.5 million centre will also include London’s oldest surviving windmill, which is being converted into a space to house illustrator residencies. Exhibitions will rotate in all three spaces, drawing on Blake’s formidable personal archive, which documents his career since its beginnings as a schoolboy in the 1940s, when he’d post off cartoons to appear in now-defunct Punch magazine – as well as his collections of both contemporary and classic illustrations.
This museum is the first of its kind in the UK. And although it isn’t free to enter, the tickets are considerately priced, with £1.10 spots for people on low incomes, so starving aspiring artists won’t be shut out of its doors. So if you’re tired of crappy AI imagery, there’s hope for the future. Go and see what the human brain can dream up at its very best at a museum that’s all about celebrating an underappreciated but infinitely exciting artform.
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration opens on Friday June 5. Tickets £16.50, £12.65 concs, £6.60 child, £1.10 low income.
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