Jeff Keen (1923-2012)

An experimental film-maker, poet and artist, an important contributor to the counterculture scene in Britain, whose rapid-fire animations, multiple screen projections and raucous performances redefined multimedia art in Britain.  His work was recently acquired by the TATE following a retrospective at the Brighton Museum in 2012.  Keen used highly innovative techniques of superimposition and editing in his films, and frequently etched and degraded the film surface. His innovative ideas and tendancy to push boundaries were also reflected in the other artistic media in which he worked. Keen was a veteran of the Second World War, and his work powerfully evokes the violence, colour, speed and noise of the 20th century. He did study art for a period in Chelsea School of Art after the war, later moving to Brighton.  He attempted to make a drawing or painting every day for the last 20 years of his life.