We're delighted to announce that @toejucker 's THE SECRET PAINTER has been chosen as @waterstones September Non-Fiction Book of the Month! Discover the astonishing story of 'The Secret Lowry' today (link in the bio)
Joe Tucker’s Uncle Eric was a beloved yet unconventional figure throughout his life. A shambolically dressed man who lived with his mother for almost eighty years, he appeared to exist only for daily trips to the bookie – and yet had also quietly amassed over five hundred of his own remarkable paintings without anyone ever realising his achievements.
In this touching, funny and thoughtful investigation into the nature of expression, the ownership of art and the secret life of those nearest to us, Joe Tucker brings us into his uncle’s world – and brings Eric Tucker’s life’s work into ours.
#ReadCanongate #Instabook #Bookstagram #TheSecretPainter #lowry #Painting #Waterstones
It’s news time…
A new exhibition, ‘Eric Tucker: Characters and Places’, jointly held at @connaughtbrown and @alonzakaimfineart in London, begins tomorrow (May 1) with a Public Preview day, 10:00–19:30. I’ll be there in the afternoon, signing some books. Please contact one of the galleries if you’d like to come along. The exhibition then runs 2 - 30 May, open weekdays, 10:00-18:00.
The last in a series of planned exhibitions, ‘Characters & Places’ focusses on the scenes and people who inspired Eric’s practice: the industrial town streets and pubs for which he’s become well known, as well as the villages and countryside surrounding his home of Warrington – and sometimes further afield.
The exhibition features never-before-seen work including, for the first time, a selection of drawings – giving greater insight into Eric’s process as an artist, how he perceived his world and composed his images.
Hope to see some of you down there! End of bulletin.
#erictucker #thesecretpainter #britishart #modernart #artexhibition #artexhibitionlondon
It’s the last week of Lives Less Ordinary at Two Temple Place – and to mark the final stretch of this brilliant exhibition, here’s a little extra Eric content from the archive...
This was one of many drawings I first saw after my uncle’s death – a preparatory sketch for a painting my dad titled ‘Canalside, Mancunia’. In the background, a van passes: ‘T&E Tucker, Artists, Warrington’. (T is my dad, Tony – a graphic designer.) And on the door, their apprentice: JET – me.
Eric depicted the world as he saw it and as he liked to see it. This feels like a very working-class vision of how an artist might operate: driving around in a van, plying your trade like a plumber or an electrician. A very different approach to the one my uncle actually took, but perhaps a glimpse into a world where he would’ve felt more comfortable declaring himself an artist.
Recently, I was in Manchester for the filming of the new series of Black Ops and I found myself on a street I recognised. Alas, without a van, but still plying the family trade.
Lives Less Ordinary: Working-Class Britain Re-seen is at @twotempleplace until April 20th.
#erictucker #thesecretpainter #britishart #britishartist #workingclass
Would you like a little bookplate to stick in your copy of The Secret Painter?
With my signature and a drawing by Eric of two lads in the pub. Thus raising your purchase to an investment (maybe).
Maybe you’d like a personal dedication on there so you can give it as a gift (ahem, Mothers’ Day)?
If so, DM me with your address and I will post one to you! While stocks last etc.
This guy is out today. A labour of love, to say the least. It’s the story of my uncle, Eric Tucker: a seemingly very ordinary man with an extraordinary hidden passion. A manual labourer and erstwhile grave-digger, he was destined in life to be anything other than an artist – but in the end he proved he could never have been anything else.
The odds of this book reaching shelves seemed, to begin with, higher than one of Eric’s complex accumulator bets, so huge thanks to @canongatebooks for taking the punt. Heartfelt thanks also to @jarvisbransoncocker@sissaylemn@millington_ruth and @catrentzenbrink for the wonderful quotes. I owe you all a pint of bitter and a packet of pork scratchings.
Two of Eric’s paintings are currently on show in the amazing, free exhibition ‘Lives Less Ordinary’ at @twotempleplace in London.
#thesecretpainter #erictucker #northernart #northernartist #britishart #modernart #modernbritishart #workingclass
People often ask me and Lloyd, what’s our set up when writing together?…
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Black Ops starts tonight at 9:30 on BBC1 and iPlayer. Proud to have been a part of this alongside a bunch of very talented people.
Eric Tucker: At Home - a new exhibition of my uncle’s paintings opens today at @alonzakaimfineart and @connaughtbrown in London.
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46 works across the two galleries, covering the full scope of his thematic preoccupations: working class life, in the street and in the pub, and enigmatic images of an imagined theatre and circusland.
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Alongside this, a recreation of his painting room (aka the front room of my grandparents’ council house in Warrington) and a pub reminiscent of those in which he would surreptitiously sketch, courtesy of the brilliant @millywhitedesign
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Open Mon-Fri until 23 December.
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#erictucker #erictuckerartist #exhibition #artexhibition #art #painting #britishart #modernart #outsiderart #lslowry #burra #northern #northernart #artcollector #collectart #artlover #artlovers #warrington
