Biography
Gary Wragg (b. High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK 1946) studied at High Wycombe School of Art (1962–6), then at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (1966–9), and Slade School of Fine Art (1969–71). In 1968 Wragg won the Rotary Travelling Gift to Italy and Lord Carron Prize, followed by Boise Travelling Scholarship to America and Mexico, 1972. A major Arts Council grant in 1975 was followed by one from the London Arts Association in 1978. He went on to teach at Camberwell, St Martin’s School of Art and Portsmouth Polytechnic, by which time he was appearing widely in group shows. Other notable teaching appointments included the Chelsea School of Art and Slade School of Fine Art as well as Bath Academy of Art. Trips to America to visit Jack Tworkov, 1970 and 1974, and Willem de Kooning, 1985, were significant.
Wragg appeared in British Painting 1952–77 at the Royal Academy, 1977; Sydney Biennale, 1982; RA Summer Exhibition; and John Moores Exhibition, Liverpool, 1991–2, and 2002. After solo studio shows in 1973–5, Wragg gained an Arts Council Major Grant in the latter year, then had solo show at Acme Gallery, 1976. Later shows included Nicola Jacobs, 1982–6, and Goldsmiths’ College Gallery, 1990, with a series at Flowers East from 1996. In 1998 and 2000 Wragg was artist-in-residence at the Montmiral School of Painting in France. Wragg produced large-sacel abstract works. The Arts Council Collection, Portsmouth Museum nd Art Gallery, the Pompidou Centre in Paris and other provincial, corporate and foreign public collections hold his work.
