Errol Lloyd facts for kids

Errol Lloyd, born in 1943, is a talented artist from Jamaica. He is known as a painter, sculptor, writer, and art critic. He also helps manage art projects. Since the 1960s, Errol Lloyd has lived in London, England. He first went there to study law.

He is very famous for illustrating books. In 1973, he was a runner-up for the Kate Greenaway Medal. This award is for great illustrations in children's books. He earned this for his work on My Brother Sean by Petronella Breinburg.

Errol Lloyd joined the Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM) in 1966. He then created artwork for many books, greeting cards, and other items. He worked with Black-owned publishing companies in London. These included New Beacon Books, Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications, and Allison and Busby. He also worked with the Minorities' Arts Advisory Service (MAAS). He even edited their magazine, Artrage, for a while. Errol Lloyd is recognized for his important work in Black art, starting in the 1960s. He was one of the few artists who chose to create art showing Black people.

Eddie Chambers, an art expert, has praised Errol Lloyd. He said that Lloyd is great at capturing people's looks in creative ways. Lloyd has made many portraits of important Black and Caribbean men. These men achieved great things in the 20th century. Some of them include C. L. R. James, Sir Alexander Bustamante, Sir Garfield Sobers, and Lord Pitt.

Errol Lloyd's Early Life and Art Journey

Errol Lloyd was born in Lucea, Jamaica. He went to school at Munro College in Saint Elizabeth Parish. There, he was excellent at sports, especially football. People even said he was like a "Rolls Royce" on the field!

In 1963, when he was 20, he moved to Britain. He planned to study law at the Council of Legal Education to become a lawyer. However, his love for art grew stronger. He didn't finish his law studies until 1974. He never had formal art training. He taught himself and worked alone for a long time. Then, he joined the Caribbean Artists Movement. He met older artists like the sculptor Ron Moody. They became role models for him, and his art grew from there.

Sculpting and Book Art

In 1967, Errol Lloyd sculpted a bust (a sculpture of a head and shoulders) of C. L. R. James. After joining the Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM), he showed his art at their exhibition at the University of Kent. Even as a student, Lloyd started getting requests to make bronze busts. He sculpted famous people like Jamaican Prime Minister Sir Alexander Bustamante. He also sculpted politician Lord Pitt and cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers. Other subjects included cultural figures like John La Rose and Linton Kwesi Johnson.

Lloyd regularly created artwork for books published by Bogle-L'Ouverture and New Beacon Books. His paintings also appeared on greeting cards. In 1969, he designed the cover for Bogle-L'Ouverture's first book, Walter Rodney's The Groundings with my Brothers. He designed many other covers for them over the years. In 1971, he designed the cover for Bernard Coard's How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Sub-Normal in the British School System. This book was published by New Beacon. Lloyd also worked for big publishers like Random House, Penguin Books, and Oxford University Press.

His success as an illustrator began with the children's book My Brother Sean by Petronella Breinburg (published in 1973). He was highly praised for this work and was a runner-up for the Kate Greenaway Medal. My Brother Sean was a very important book. It was the first picture book by a major UK publisher to feature Black children for the UK market. Later in his career, his 1995 novel for teenagers, Many Rivers to Cross, won an award and was nominated for a Carnegie Medal.

Promoting Black Art

Besides creating his own art, Errol Lloyd has always cared about helping Black visual arts grow in Britain. He has supported and celebrated other artists, including famous ones like Ronald Moody and Aubrey Williams. Lloyd was an artist-in-residence at the Keskidee Centre from its early days. He helped with plays staged there by writers like Rufus Collins.

He also worked for a long time with the Minorities' Arts Advisory Service (MAAS). This group aimed to "promote ethnic identity and preserve cultural traditions." He edited the MAAS journal Artrage for about 15 years, starting in 1980. He was also part of a group called the Rainbow Art Group, started in 1978. This group held several art exhibitions.

Errol Lloyd used to teach Advanced Painting at the Camden Arts Centre. He also served on the Visual Arts Panel for Arts Council England. He is also known as a musician, playwright, and storyteller.

A photograph of him by Horace Ové is in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Lloyd also appears in Ové's film about John La Rose, Dream to Change the World. In 2012, Lloyd gave an important speech about "Arts and Activism, Culture and Resistance." This was at the Annual Huntley Conference at London Metropolitan Archives. In 2016, Errol Lloyd was honored and added to the Munro College Old Boys Association Hall of Fame.

Personal Life

In 1977, Errol Lloyd married the actress Joan Ann Maynard.

Exhibitions and Art Shows

Errol Lloyd has shown his art in many important exhibitions in the UK over the years. In 1997, his work was part of Transforming the Crown: African, Asian and Caribbean Artists in Britain, 1966–1996. This was a big historical exhibition held in three places in New York City. These were the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and the Caribbean Cultural Center. He represented the Caribbean Artists Movement along with Winston Branch, Althea McNish, Aubrey Williams, and Ronald Moody.

More recently, his art was shown in a major exhibition called No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990. This was at the Guildhall Art Gallery from July 10, 2015, to January 24, 2016. As part of this, he talked with Eddie Chambers on July 13, 2015. They discussed the impact of important Black artists who were not always recognized in British art.

To celebrate Errol Lloyd's career and his contributions to Black British art and literature, Rianna Jade Parker organized a special show. This show, called Errol Lloyd. A Life In Colour, opened in November 2022 at 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning.

Selected Exhibitions

• Caribbean Artists in England. Commonwealth Institute, London, 1971.
• Afro-Caribbean Art. Artists Market, London, 1978.
• Errol Lloyd (solo exhibition of paintings), Kingston (Jamaica). Jamaican High Commission, 1978.
• Creation for Liberation: 2nd Open Exhibition By Black Artists. Brixton Art Gallery, London, 1984.
• Creation for Liberation. Third Annual Creation for Liberation Open Exhibition: Art by Black Artists. GLC Brixton Recreation Centre, London, 1985.
• Caribbean Expressions in Britain. Leicestershire Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, UK, 1986.
• Black Art: Plotting the Course. Touring exhibition, 1988.
• Caribbean Connection. Islington Arts Factory, London, 1995.
• Caribbean Connection 2: Island Pulse. Islington Arts Factory, London, 1996.
• Transforming the Crown: African, Asian & Caribbean Artists in Britain, 1966–1996. New York City, 1997.
• No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990. Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London, 2015–2016.
• Errol Lloyd. A Life In Colour. 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, London, 2022–2023.