Dr. Tom Hudson, who has died aged 75, led a life of missionary zeal, energy and committment to enhancing the lives of his students and to their achieving their true potential.
As director of studies and vice-principal of Cardiff College of Art during the period 1964 to 1977, Tom was instrumental in effecting radical changes and rapid progress from an old order which was aesthetically tired and unresponsive to new developments.
His rationale, principles and practise readily embraced the Bauhaus concept of penetrating beyond the superficial appearances of the material world and studying rigorously the inner structure of all forms of material sources.
Facing the hardships of an upbringing in the mining village of Horden in County Durham during the years of the Great Depression and being subject to the deprivations of war service in the Far East were hugely influential in deciding Tom's outlook upon a fast-changing world.
He was fired by a conviction that ignorance, intolerance and injustice would be erased only by the individual achieving self esteem and advancement through an education in which creativity played a large part.
His professorial career began as a drawing and painting master at the Lowestoft School of Art (1950-56) where, in addition to his normal duties, he was encouraged to work voluntarily with young children.
Rapidly, he realized the importance of achieving a balance between two and three-dimensional experiential learning and what part technological capability played in the forming and resolution of children's ideas.
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Giving the masses understanding through TV
In 1977 a new challenge presented itself with his acceptance of the post of dean of instruction at the Emily Carr College, Vancouver. Cardiff's loss was to be Vancouver's gan as he set about reinvigorating its programmes of study and instigating new directions of art and design practise. He became fascinated by instruction through television to the outreaches of north-west Canada. His award-winning television series and distance-learning courses on Material ad Form, Colour, Mark and Image were very well received and "represent the highest possible standards of education and television production" . The final series, Understanding Modern Art, is a guide to the revolutionary developments early in this century and encapsulates Tom's conviction that our misunderstanding of that formative period of dynamic change has restricted our readiness to grasp the essence of contemporary art practises. He returned to the UK in 1994, settling in Bristol with his wife Sally, who survives him. |
Tom Hudson was the driving force in establishing Cardiff as a premier centre for art and design education within the UK, a position which has been retained to the present day.
His enormous energy, creative vitality and forthright manner attracted a team of artists and educators which was the envy of many an institution.
Studios resonated with the industry of students and tutors as they researched creatively the potential and validity of ideas in art. Timidity was discouraged; students were pressed to experiment and push materials beyond the limits of probability.
He was well aware that basic design teaching should continually renew itself in order to avoid "instant ossification". There was always encouragement for the student researcher to exploit the accidental, incidental and serendipity - to seize the flash of inspiration.
The integrated nature of learning was revealed to students through environmental and communal projects, critical and theoretical studies and not least, performance pieces - initially unfamiliar yet rich territory for Tom Hudson the painter/constructivist.
He and his student team once re-enacted Picasso's approach to the portrayal of Guernica, invoking an awe, a silence of appreciation and a deep respect that such a crisis of inhumanity could be rendered so sensitively.
Concurrent to his time at Cardiff, Tom served as consultant to Unesco in Paris and to the City of Brasilia.
His lectures and seminars were well known and highly regarded for his direct, if combative style, comprehensive grasp of change and growth in 20th century art movements and decisive interpretation of image to illuminate his his thesis. Audiences were never unresponsive or unreceptive. He relished invading complacency, deploying wit and sardonic humour to deflate pomposity.
As an artist he exhibited widely; his work was shown in London, New York and many major cities across Europe and North America.
(Dr. John O'Neil is fellow in art education at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff.)