20 Slideshows

Fourth in the line of studios is the Art School I attended for three years between 1960 and 1963, which at that time only consisted of the once prize-winning building on the right, the modern addition had just been completed at the start of 20 Sites, and in 1973 we see almost emblematically, a member of staff moving equipment from the old to the new.

In 1985 the old door was closed, seemingly for the last time. The great years of Thatcherite brutalisation saw the decline of the school into an adjunct of a polytechnic, and by 1992 it had lost its fine art course.

The fine art dept, was bought back again in 2004. The new building was extended and remodelled by Stephen Marshall Architects in 2017, and hoarding and scaffolding go up at the listed old Camberwell school of art in 2023 and 2024 for repairs and improvements.

The history of the College is closely linked with that of the South London Gallery (SLG), with which the College shares its site. In 1995 the SLG purchased the original archival edition of 20 sites n years, updated with new material each year.

Tom Phillips first showed at the gallery as a student and again in 1997. Jake Auerbach's film of 20 Sites was premièred at the South London Gallery in 2016 and Tom Phillips's revised version of Irma premièred at the gallery in 2017.

A celebration of the 50th Anniversary of 20 Sites was hosted by the SLG on Sunday 16 April 2023, when Louisa Buck chaired a panel discussion with Robert Hewison, John Walters and Chloe Dewe Mathews. Several short extracts from Jake Auerbach’s film were screened and the afternoon concluded with music scores by Tom Phillips performed by Tansy Spinks and the Tom Phillips band. A recording of the event is online at the SLG Soundcloud channel.