Victory & Defeat 1982–1985

The Victory & Defeat project was established in 1982 during my final year at the RCA as an epilogue to my involvement as a competitive oarsman. It inspired a prolific period of printmaking and drawing, first presented at the RCA in 1982 for my graduation.

All rowers recognise the fine line between victory and defeat and the analogies between war and the human condition. Hill’s first notable solo exhibition, Victory and Defeat, opened in 1983 at the Imperial War Museum’s entrance lobby in London. The exhibition featured twenty-five etchings and drawings organised by Angela Weight, IWM’s keeper. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/13013

The collection Victory & Defeat includes suites of zinc, copper, and steel plate etchings, lithographs, and charcoal drawings. Plate sizes range from 30 x 30 cm, 30 x 50 cm, and 45 x 75 cm. Off-set Lithographs sizes are 4 x plates measuring 1.25 x 1.50 m. Also included are some small painted wooden and metal maquettes celebrating victory.

Current paintings: https://www.derekhill.co.uk/work/cat/current-paintings/

Inside the studio; video shorts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQteKPuE8QuOHNERlXBbHc7deFr0kzv9k