Doug Binder, figurative painter, was born in Bradford in 1941.
Between 1957-61 he studied at commercial design at Bradford School of Art, but quickly realised that his interests lay more with abstract painting than with commercial art. In 1958, aged 17, he rented a studio on Thornton Road, Bradford giving him the space to paint what he wanted. The work he completed during this time enabled him to gain a place at the Royal College of Art, London, to study painting. Doug later wrote:
Having received little tuition in painting at Bradford College, this state of affairs was to continue throughout my years at the R.C.A. Staff came and went along corridors leaving only the exotic aroma of French cigarettes. At my final diploma show my tutor exclaimed “I’ve never known what to say to you – I don’t like your paintings, but I’m sure you will do very well!”
Carel Weight, the painting professor, a lovely man, approached me to explain how disappointed and sorry he was that I had only managed a mediocre degree, which he had tried to overturn without success. I replied that I had never worried about the grading system; I had never given it a thought.
In 1964 he was awarded an Abbey Minor Travelling Scholarship to Italy. During 1965 he taught at Norwich School of Art for a while before becoming a co-founder of ‘Binder Edwards and Vaughan’ with two fellow students, including Dudley Edwards, from Bradford School of Art. They were given the title of the ‘Underground Design Group’, gaining a reputation and following for their psychedelic painted sports cars (see example below) and colourful household furniture. Doug received commissions during this time for designs from Philips Record Co Ltd, Ministry of Public Building and Works, Macy’s Department Store, San Francisco, Sanderson Fabrics and Lyons Restaurants, along with commissions from the famous – John Lennon, for example.
Dudley Edwards & Doug Binder (right) with one of their sport car designs. Image: Martin Cook, by courtesy of Dudley Edwards
The group disbanded and Doug returned to painting, which took on a pronounced graphic style, and lead to solo shows in London (Whitechapel Art Gallery) and in the USA in Chicago and Minneapolis. He also began to teach part-time in London and the south of England, but in 1985 he returned to Yorkshire and organised the exhibition programme at the South Square Gallery in Thornton, near Bradford.
The Yorkshire Craft Centre, Bradford Gallery, held a retrospective of his work in 2010, titled ‘Full Circle’. There was an accompanying hardback book: Full Circle: The Paintings of Douglas Binder (2010). Published by Dean Clough Gallery/Douglas Binder.
‘Settee 2’ Exhibited at Dean Clough. Image courtesy of Doug Binder
At this time, Dean Clough Mills, Halifax, had established an art gallery alongside small businesses now using the old mill as their base. The idea was to encourage creativity and entrepreneurship in a way that united the arts and commercial worlds. Douglas worked at Dean Clough as voluntary curator for three years before being appointed as a paid curator, a post he held for twenty-five years. His present role is as Painter in Residence and he has a small studio at the mill.
He lives in Thornton close to the South Square Art Centre, the gallery he helped to establish and still supports.
‘A Glass of Water’. Exhibited at Dean Clough. Image courtesy of Doug Binder
See also ‘My Art’, by Doug Binder at https://www.notjusthockney.info/doug-binder/