William Tillyer: The Golden Striker (2022)

An illuminating portrait of the reclusive artist William Tillyer, and his unique 50-year relationship with his art dealer Bernard Jacobson. Filmed over 18 months, the film follows Tillyer at work on a number of projects as he reflects on a series of exhibitions that culminate in an 80th birthday show of a dramatic new work. The film explores Tillyer's relationship with his local landscape in North Yorkshire that has provided the inspiration for much of his work. Rather than the traditional canvas support, Tillyer uses an unusual mesh through which he 'pushes' paint. Although essentially abstract, his work can be seen in the context of other great English landscape painters like Constable. Tillyer's visual interplay between the romantic and the modern is a source of heated debate that his dealer Bernard Jacobson tries to understand as he writes a new book on Tillyer's life and work. As Tillyer's 80th birthday show approaches he is engaged in other projects. These include a series of prints he began in the 1970's based on the eccentric fin de siècle novel "Against Nature"¬. The book wittily juxtaposes the power of art and artifice over nature. Tillyer's new prints illustrate a contemporary translation of the cult novel. Tillyer also embarks on a collaboration with one of Britain's leading poets Alice Oswald, and creates a series of unique watercolours that provide the illustrations to "Nobody" a new published poem inspired by water and Homer's "The Odyssey". Tillyer ultimately surprises everyone, including his dealer, by departing from a planned series of paintings; instead producing one single painting some 30 feet wide, mysteriously entitled 'The Golden Striker' - a bold and dramatic statement in celebration of his 80th Birthday.