Edward Mackenzie

Edward Mackenzie B.1937

Edward Mackenzie is a modern day Alchemist or could be described, in modern parlance, as an ‘upcycler ‘ and as such his ethos and work very much resonates today. Edward first started constructing his Assemblage Art due to a shortage of funds and the acquisition of expensive art materials were, for him, prohibitive. It was whilst he lived with his family in New Zealand that he began to make a real name for himself with his querky original and often highly thought provoking pieces constructed with everyday objects and often joined together with pieces of Meccano.

Edward was born in 1937 to an English father in Calafornia USA and studied for a Diploma of Art at Cooper Union Art School in New York . Other students of this great school which continues today are the artists Tom Wesselmann, George Segal and R.B. Kitaj . Following this Edward gained a Fulbright scholarship to study graphic design at the Royal College of Art in London between 1966-68 at the height of the ‘swinging sixties’. So lets be clear he has studied with, and under the very best!

During the 1970’s Edward lived in Redbridge, London with his New Zealand born wife Runa and their young family, and qualified as a teacher to secure a regular income. In 1982 they moved to New Zealand before returning to the UK to settle for the final time.

We recently visited Edward in his studio and home in Stoke where he has made a redundant Fish and Chip shop his own. You enter through the front door of the old shop to be greeted by shelves of reclaimed items waiting for a new life in one of his constructions . We talk about his work and inspirations and he shows us the new series of work he has done for our 2020 Summer exhibition . This is a series of pieces which focus on the English Seaside and in a year of chaos caused by Covid19 we are both wearing face masks talking about his inspiration but I cant help thinking that these Covid related items must surely feature in his upcoming work.