Biography
Mel Gooding (b. Ipswich, Suffolk, UK 1941 - d. London 2021) studied English at the University of Sussex (1962-66). He taught at at Furzedown College of Education, in Streatham, West London College, Wandle primary school, in Earlsfield, Rachel McMillan College of Education, in Deptford, and the Sidney Webb College (incorporated into the Polytechnic of Central London) before becoming a freelance writer in the 1980s. He wrote catalogues of artists, including one on Frank Bowling (2011) that was expanded in 2021 and contributed to William Furlong’s Audio Arts ((1973-2007), a magazine produced on cassette. He collaborated with the artist Bruce Mclean (1944) and they published, under Knife Edge Press, the artists' books featuring Mclean's screenprints: Dreamwork (1985), Ladder (1986), A Scone Off a Plate (1990) and Knife Edge Academy: The Prospectus (1992), the first two of which were acquired by the Contemporary Art Society and presented to Southampton City Art Gallery and Chelmsford Museum. In 2013 Knife Edge Press was given a retrospective exhibition at the Cooper Gallery, Dundee. Mel was also senior research fellow at Edinburgh College of Art (1998-2005), and in 2006 was made a professor at Wimbledon College of Art. He also organised exhibitions such as FE McWilliam, Tate Gallery (1989), Ceri Richards: Themes and Variations, National Museum of Wales and touring (2002-03), and Gillian Ayres: Select Retrospective, the Royal West of England Academy (2004).
