Tutor: Annie Cattrell RSA
Visiting artist Tim Shaw RA and selection of invited artists.
Fee £710
Each term of 10 weeks on Friday 10am – 5pm
After the start date of the term please contact the school for a pro-rata fee calculation.
Prepare for immersive days of presentations, practical projects, one to one and group tutorials.
“The Bigger Picture is a postgraduate fine art course based at the ESOP Studios in north London. Interdisciplinary and challenging in approach, thinking and creative realisation. The focus will be on the artistic development of each student and the dynamics of the group as a whole. Critical discussion and supportive dialogues will be at the heart of this process. Therefore, actively encouraging innovative and meaningful ways of personally integrating practise and theory.”
Annie Cattrell on the Bigger Picture 2022-23
Please see below for application details
If you have an existing or developing project, when the course begins, you are welcome to bring it to the Bigger Picture course and it could form the basis from which you will begin to receive feedback. We, however, would encourage and emphasise that you participate in the shared projects in the first term.
Course description and definition.
The legendary Bigger Picture course, at the Essential School of Painting (ESOP), is a multidisciplinary postgraduate course first established in 2016. It was previously led by Bob and Roberta Smith RA and, over the last four years, by David Mach RA. This year the Bigger Picture, will be led by Annie Cattrell FRSS RSA
Application process and level of the course
Applications are now open. To apply for this course please send 6-10 images of your work, your cv or artist’s statement, and, a short statement (500 words or less) on why you would like to do the course. Please click here for the The Bigger Picture Application Form OR click here contact the school directly
Postgraduate level does not have to mean that you have done a BA Fine Art degree but that you have an intermediate to advanced artistic practice with a level of commitment to your work. In line with the ethos of the ESOP we are an inclusive course looking for and developing as diverse an artistic and creative community as is possible.
‘Knitted Road’ by Toni Gallagher 2022 – Exhibited in ESOP End of Year Exhibition 2022 and the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2022
About Annie Cattrell RSA
Annie Cattrell RSA FRSS was born in Glasgow. A graduate of Glasgow School of Art with a Masters degrees from the University of Ulster and at the Royal College of Art. Her practice is often informed by working with specialists in neuroscience, meteorology, engineering, psychiatry and the history of science. This inter-disciplinary approach has enabled her to learn about cutting edge research and in depth information in these fields. She is drawn to the similarities and connective that can be found across the study of art, science and poetry.
Where we’ve come from and where we going to…
The Bigger Picture started in 2016 with Bob and Roberta Smith RA establishing its radiant and subversive credentials with an emphasis on the principles of experimentation, ideas, creativity and community. After 2018 the mantle was taken up brilliantly by David Mach RA who ran a different course that brought his own essential mix of collaboration, communication and risk taking and whilst continue to uphold its founding principles of experimentation, creativity and community. This academic year of 2022-23 the torch passes to Annie Cattrell RSA who brings with her her deep experience in cross-displinary approach to making art that melds the worlds of art creativity and that of neuroscience, meteorology, engineering, psychiatry and the history of science. She is particularly interested in where art, science and the poetic meet.
‘What kind of artist are you?… and ‘who on earth would be interested in my paintings?’
– Bob and Roberta Smith RA – on the questions an artist should ask of themselves. ESOP 2018
‘We’re not just painters and sculptors, we’re actors and singers. We’re performers, we play in orchestras and bands. We write poetry, we deliver spoken word, we design, we make architecture. Our ideas take us into every sphere of life and every time we pick up a brush to paint, every time we install a sculpture, draw on a page, write a story, compose lyrics for a song a whole world prepares to transport us, frame us, write about us, sell us, promote us, display us, restore us, record us, build us, buy us and buy tickets to see us, hear us and watch us.‘
– David Mach RA on the question ‘who is an artist? who are we?’ ESOP 2019
If you have any questions or would like further clarification on what we are looking for, please use the form below to contact us.
