Clive Wilkins

Clive Wilkins
Wilkins discussing The Moustachio Quartet at the Hay Festival in 2018
Born (1954-06-25) June 25, 1954 (age 70)
Wolverhampton, Staffordshire
NationalityBritish
Known forArtist in Residence, Department of Psychology, The University of Cambridge, Member of The Magic Circle
Notable workThe Creatures in the Night, The Moustachio Quartet, The Lost Library of Miraculous Metaphors & other short stories
Websitewww.psychol.cam.ac.uk/people/clive-wilkins

Clive Wilkins (born 25 June 1954) is a British figurative artist.[1] He is the author of The Moustachio Quartet, a series of novels that explore perception and the subjective experience of thinking;[2][3][4] and with Nicky Clayton is co-founder of the Captured Thought,[5][6][7][8] an arts and science collaboration. He is the first Artist in Residence in the Department of Psychology at The University of Cambridge,[9][10] a position held since 2012. Wilkins, along with Clayton, was made Honorary Director of Studies and advisor to the China UK Development Centre (CUDC) in 2018 ~ a position he held until 2024. He has been awarded professorships by Nanjing University, Institute of Technology, China (2018),[11] Beijing University of Language and Culture, China (2019),[12][13] and Hangzhou Diangi University, China (2019).[12][13] Wilkins was made Co-Director of the Cambridge Centre for the Integration of Science, Technology and Culture (CCISTC)[14] in 2020 ~ a position he held until 2024.

Education

Clive Wilkins was born in Wolverhampton, Staffs, and grew up and was educated in Corby, Northants. He went on to the Tresham Institute, Kettering, (formerly Kettering Technical College) where he enrolled on the art foundation course at the age of 17. Amongst others, his tutors were David Imms, who taught painting and printmaking, and Norman Laing,[15] who taught architecture and the history of art. He went from there to DeMontfort University, (formerly Leicester Polytechnic) where he was tutored and greatly influenced by George Him, and also came into contact with Jerzy Karo,[16] the Head of School for Graphic Design. Wilkins graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Graphic Design, before gaining an Art Teacher's Diploma (ATD) and Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGCE).

Paintings

  • The Masquerade Creatures
    The Masquerade Creatures
  • The Silverman
    The Silverman
  • The Ambassadors
    The Ambassadors
  • The Lacemaker
    The Lacemaker

Wilkins has exhibited in the John Player Portrait Awards (1985, 1986, 1987) and in the BP Portrait Awards (1994, 1995).[17]

Wilkins has produced portraits of the British pop artist Sir Peter Blake RA and Sir Howard Hodgkin CH CBE amongst others, and was presented to HRH Princess Royal during a visit to the Royal Holloway University in 1994.[18]

Wilkins' work appears in The Creatures in the Night,[19] a published picture book sequence of 31 paintings, with accompanying text by the artist. The artwork, along with other works by Wilkins, formed a one-man show (2005) at Petley Fine Art Limited, Cork Street, London. He was described, in the foreword to the exhibition catalogue by Roy Petley as "one of the UK's leading figurative painters".[20]

Wilkins paintings have been exhibited in a number of venues, including the following:

The Captured Thought

Wilkins, along with Nicky Clayton, Professor of Comparative Cognition at the University of Cambridge, is co-founder of "The Captured Thought".[23] The collaboration explores the nature of memory and perception with a particular focus on creativity.[24] Important aspects of The Captured Thought's work have been highlighted in articles in 'The Guardian' newspaper in 2019 [25][26] and in 'Die Zeit' magazine in 2020.[27] The Captured Thought were invited speakers at The University of Vienna’s CogSciHub[28] inauguration 2019,and India's National Brain Research Centre 16th Foundation Day. Their work featured in the New Scientist Special Christmas and New Year issue 2022.[29][30] Wilkins interests are primarily in the psychology and structures of problem solving and the subjective experience of thinking.[31] The collaboration has published the following:

  • 2012: Occam's Typewriter[32]
  • 2012: Imagination: The Secret Landscape[33]
  • 2016: Current Biology[34]
  • 2016: The Psychologist Magazine[35][36][37]
  • 2017: After Nyne[8]
  • 2017: The Royal Society Interface[38]
  • 2018: The Seven Myths of Memory[39]
  • 2019: Tricks of the Mind. Experiencing the Impossible. Current Biology. Book review.[40]
  • 2019: Mind Tricks. Magic and mysticism reveal cognitive shortcuts with implications beyond entertainment. Science (journal)[41]
  • 2019: Reflections on the Spoon Test. Neuropsychologia[42]
  • 2020: An unexpected audience. Science (journal)[43]
  • 2021: Exploring the perceptual inabilities of Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) using magic effects. PNAS[44]
  • 2021: Schnell, A. K., Loconsole, M., Garcia-Pelegrin, E., Wilkins, C. & Clayton, N. S.. Jays are sensitive to cognitive illusions. Royal Society Open Science, 8, 202358
  • 2021: Garcia-Pelegrin, E., Wilkins, C. & Clayton, N. S.. The ape that lived to tell the tale. The evolution of the art of storytelling and its relationship to Mental Time Travel and Theory of Mind. Frontiers in Psychology 12, 755-783
  • 2022: Garcia-Pelegrin, E., Schnell, A. K., Wilkins, C. & Clayton, N. S.. Could it be Protomagic? Deceptive tactics in non-human animals resemble magician’s misdirection. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research and Practice, in press
  • 2022: Garcia-Pelegrin, E., Wilkins, C. & Clayton, N. S.. Are magicians specialists at identifying deceptive motion? The role of expertise in being fooled by sleight of hand. Scientific Reports, in press
  • 2023: Goldberg J, Wilkins, C. A. P. & Clayton, N. S. (2023). Sleight of Wing. The Linking Ring, in press
  • 2023: Garcia-Pelegrin, E., Miller, R. A., Wilkins, C. A. P. & Clayton, N. S. (2023). Monkey Magic. Current Biology, in press
  • 2024: Garcia-Pelegrin, E., Schnell, A. K., Wilkins, C. & Clayton, N. S. (2024). Beyond the Tricks: The Science and Comparative Cognition of Magic. Annual Review of Psychology 75, 289-293

Awards and honours

Wilkins won joint second prize in the Hunting Art Awards with Tom Phillips in 1988.[45]

References

  1. ^ Jo Bostock (6 March 2014). The Meaning of Success. Cambridge University Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-107-42868-3. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Memory and mental time travel".
  3. ^ "Clive Wilkins talks to Nicky Clayton - Hay Festival". www.hayfestival.com.
  4. ^ Transcripts of Clive's talks 2015 and 2018 in which he discusses 'The Moustachio Quartet' series of novels, form part of the Hay Festivals holding at the British Library.
  5. ^ "'The Captured Thought' visit Zealandia". 12 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Nicola Clayton". royalsociety.org.
  7. ^ "Why do we remember things differently?". 12 September 2016.
  8. ^ a b "After Nyne Arts Magazine. 'The Science of Art' featuring The Captured Thought". 15 February 2017.
  9. ^ "Mr Clive Wilkins". Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge. 10 December 2014.
  10. ^ "The Moustachio Quartet ~ An Exploration of Memory". Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge.
  11. ^ "Nicky Clayton and Clive Wilkins have received Professorships from Nanjing University Institute of Technology, China". 3 January 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Professor Clive Wilkins". 10 December 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Nicky and Clive have been appointed Honorary and Visiting Professors in multiple Universities in China". 12 November 2019.
  14. ^ "The Cambridge Centre for the Integration of Science, Technology and Culture (CCISTC)". 12 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Norman Laing (1923–1989) - Art UK". www.artuk.org.
  16. ^ Author of 'Graphic Design: Problems, Methods, Solutions', (1975) ISBN 0442300697
  17. ^ Rutland and Stamford Mercury. 16 November 1990. 'Painter painted'. Page 22
  18. ^ "Woman with a Shielded Candle - Art UK".
  19. ^ Clive Wilkins (1 May 2008). The Creatures in the Night. Dingley Press. ISBN 978-0-9547083-3-7. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  20. ^ "About". 5 November 2012.
  21. ^ a b 1984 Exhibition Catalogue - The Exhibitors (Digital book). The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: A Chronicle 1769-2018: Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. 1984. p. 154. Retrieved 13 October 2018.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  22. ^ Royal Academy of Arts summer exhibition 1994. The two hundred and twenty-sixth, The Exhibitors (Digital book) (Exhibition of the Royal Academy, London ed.). London: Saunders & Williams. 1994. p. 136. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  23. ^ "Professor Nicky Clayton and Clive Wilkins take The Captured Thought to Portugal". Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge.
  24. ^ Savoir, penser, rêver Les leçons de vie de 12 grands scientifiques. Paris: Flammarion. 23 May 2018. pp. 109–111. ISBN 9782081421332. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  25. ^ The Guardian. Armistead, C.(2019)The magicians trying to change the world- one card trick at a time. September 9, 2019, G2, 6-7.
  26. ^ "Clive Wilkins and Nicky Clayton on the Guardian - "The magicians trying to change the world"". 10 September 2019.
  27. ^ ‘Das eine Tier führt, das andere folgt, es ist eine Art Tango’. Aus der serie: Stephan Kleins Wissenschaftsgespräche. Zeitmagazin nr. 18/2020 -22 April 2020
  28. ^ "Vienna Cognitive Science Hub".
  29. ^ "What doing magic tricks for birds is revealing about animal minds".
  30. ^ "A Christmas Special on the New Scientist features research work on Magic by Prof Wilkins and Clayton and Garcia-Pelegrin". 23 December 2021.
  31. ^ Ken Cheng (3 October 2016). How Animals Think and Feel: An Introduction to Non-Human Psychology: An Introduction to Non-Human Psychology. ABC-CLIO. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-4408-3715-9. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  32. ^ The Captured Thought. 5 Nov 2012
  33. ^ Clayton, N. S.; Wilkins, C. "Imagination: The Secret Landscape". beinghuman.org. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017.
  34. ^ Laland, Kevin; Wilkins, Clive; Clayton, Nicky (1 January 2016). "The evolution of dance". Current Biology. 26 (1): R5 – R9. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.11.031. PMID 26766235.
  35. ^ "The creative navigator's compass - The Psychologist". thepsychologist.bps.org.uk.
  36. ^ "BPS Shop - The Psychologist Vol 29 No 8 August 2016 - The Psychologist Magazine - Publication by Series - Publications". shop.bps.org.uk.
  37. ^ "The Psychologist magazine 'BIG PICTURE' feature of the month~ from The British Psychology Society". 20 July 2016.
  38. ^ Clayton, Nicola; Wilkins, Clive (6 June 2017). "Memory, mental time travel and The Moustachio Quartet". Interface Focus. 7 (3): 20160112. doi:10.1098/rsfs.2016.0112. PMC 5413891. PMID 28479980.
  39. ^ Clayton, N. S. & Wilkins, C. A. P. (2018). Seven Myths of Memory. Behavioural Processes 152, 3-9
  40. ^ Clayton N.S. & Wilkins C.A.P. (2019) Current Biology 29(10), R349-R350
  41. ^ Clayton N.S. & Wilkins C.A.P. (2019)Science 364, 6445.
  42. ^ Wilkins C.A.P & Clayton N.S. Reflections on the Spoon Test. Neuropsychologia (2019)
  43. ^ Elias Garcia-Pelegrin, Alexandra K. Schnell, Clive Wilkins and Nicola S. Clayton. An unexpected audience. Science.18 Sep 2020:Vol. 369, Issue 6510, pp. 1424-1426 DOI: 10.1126/science.abc6805
  44. ^ Elias Garcia-Pelegrin, Alexandra K. Schnell, Clive Wilkins and Nicola S. Clayton. Exploring the perceptual inabilities of Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) using magic effects. PNAS June 15, 2021 118 (24) e2026106118. Edited by Michael E. Goldberg, Columbia University, New York, NY, and approved April 26, 2021
  45. ^ Rutland and Stamford Mercury. 4 March 1988. 'Artist wins prize'. Page 4.