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GARY HODGES DETAILED BIOGRAPHY brief bio Born in 1954 in south London, UK, Gary always loved both animals and art. He was surrounded by family pets in his childhood and he excitedly watched birds in the local fields. Some of his earlier artistic inspirations came from comics such as X Men and Spiderman, a genre that has now reached a massive audience through film. He studied art at school gaining a UK "O level" qualification and was encouraged to study for his "A level" two years earlier than usual. At this time his mother fell ill and died, leaving Gary with his father, sister Lynne and brother Tony. It was a hard time for the family and he failed his "A level" leaving school at the age of 16, never continuing with any formal further education.
GARY WITH BILL, HIS FATHER, 1955 Son
of a fishmonger and secretary, Gary was encouraged to join the "safe"
highly unionised printing trade. In 1978 Gary met his soul mate, photographer
and environmentalist Dave Currey, a relationship that was not easy in those
days. Dave was working for World Wildlife Fund and in 1979 sailed on the
Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior. Over the next thirty one
years (they are still together) this relationship brought Gary into contact
with a world of conservation and environmental activism. In 1980 Gary left his
printing job and travelled for 3 months with Dave through the wilderness areas
of the western United States and Mexico. In Baja California they observed grey
whales from inflatable dinghies, walked around islands watching ospreys, seals
and hundreds of dolphins. It was a different world which would influence Gary
for the rest of his life.
WILD GREY WHALE NEXT TO GARY’S DINGHY, MEXICO, 1980 PHOTO: DAVE CURREY On
his return to the UK Gary focused his energies into his art. He was asked to
illustrate an article with four drawings in Wildlife Magazine in 1981
and design a WWF Fundraising leaflet. He was also commissioned to
illustrate various species for WWF
press releases. With Dave's brother, he silk screened sweatshirts for Greenpeace.
His work was exhibited at Hampstead's Open Air Exhibition in 1981, he
illustrated another article with four drawings in Wildlife Magazine in 1982 and
exhibited at the Henry-Brett Galleries in Chelsea, London and in
Gloucester, UK. By this time Gary had started working with children on an
adventure playground near Brixton, South London. He moved to run and help
build another adventure playground in the deprived area of Elephant and Castle
in 1983, a position he maintained until he started drawing full-time in 1989. His father was diagnosed with cancer and died in 1988 spurring Gary to re-evaluate his life and devote all of his time to his art. During this period he drew a lot and exhibited around London including the Medici Gallery. Following the incredible success of the Greenpeace limited editions, he was commissioned by Robin Des Bois, a French environmental group. Lémuriens and Elephants africains were published in 1989 and launched at a highly successful exhibition of Gary’s art in Paris.
GREEN TURTLE 1987, FIRST GREENPEACE LIMITED EDITION
PRINT SOLD FOR £8.50 AND HAS SOLD ON SECONDARY MARKET FOR £3,500.00 It
was also in 1989 that he first entered his drawings into the Society of
Wildlife Artists (SWLA) Annual exhibition, unusually having all six pieces
accepted. He was invited to become a member the following year. It was at this
exhibition in 1989 where he first met Virginia McKenna, OBE and the late Bill
Travers who had set up the charity Born Free Foundation. This was the
start of a relationship that Gary has with Virginia and Born Free to this day.
He was honoured to draw a commemorative picture of the late George Adamson with
Boy and Christian (lions) in 1990 for Bill and Virginia which was published as
a limited edition of 850 copies with all proceeds going to Born Free. |
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