Sussex-based artist, Jack Milroy, opens new exhibition Bibliophilia at Shapero Modern, London, on April 15

Following on the heels of his show Post Card-Post Book at Benjamin Rhodes Gallery, London in 2025, this exhibition further develops his long-standing exploration of books as both material and subject.

Glasgow-born, Milroy began his art education in his adopted home county of Yorkshire at Scarborough School of Art (1956 to 1960) and continued at London University (1960-1). He went on to teach at West Surrey College of Art and Design in Farnham, Surrey, for many years. 

Over a career spanning six decades, his work has been acquired by major institutions including the V&A, Imperial War Museum, the British Library, Great Ormond Street hospital, the UK Government Art Collection, the Kit Kemp Collection and the Caldic Collection in the Netherlands. His work is also held in significant private and corporate collections in the UK and internationally, including BA, De Beers, Fidelity, Seagrams, Bank of America, Nat West, Firmdale Hotels, University of Wisconsin, Queen Mary University, London, and others.

For Bibliophilia, Jack has selected illustrated books – depicting flowers, animals and costumes – transforming them into intricate three-dimensional book-works. The exhibition also includes pieces made from his now famous sardine piccanti tins, recalling an early series for which the artist famously ate sardines every day for lunch for 100 days!

Milroy reflects on his forthcoming exhibition: “Upstairs at Shapero Rare Books, you will be able to see the display of first editions and beautifully illustrated folio editions, carefully presented in pristine condition. These books can be read but they are also meant for collecting and display. Downstairs in the Shapero Modern Gallery, my exhibition shows books that have been vandalised, disembowelled and dismembered volumes, presented in crisp acrylic showcases. These books are not meant to be read but are for collecting and reflecting – perhaps on the demise of the book as a purveyor of information and knowledge.”

Although the artist is clearly a fan of colour, Milroy stopped painting relatively early on in his career, turning instead to experimenting with 3D cut-outs almost 60 years ago. His work – described by art critic Andrew Lambirth as “planar collage” – and has been greatly inspired by the Surrealists, Picasso and Max Ernst.

Milroy’s book-works originated from a collection of illustrated volumes he discovered in a market near his house in France. He doesn't always start each work with a concept but often will take instructions from the title of the book. In one notable example, a copy of Manual of Operative Surgery was meticulously “operated on” with a scalpel, releasing the images which were suspended umbilically from the book, and in a beautiful circularity – later acquired, fittingly, by a surgeon. 

Whilst some earlier works had strong political undertones, like for example following the attack on the World Trade Towers, his current work, exhibited in Bibiliophilia at Shapero Modern, returns to more joyful themes -- drawing the viewer  into the work to discover the poetry in the image.