http://www.norwichoutpost.org/film_pages/open_film_2012/index.html
ln Memoriam Stuart Croft
1970-2015
It is with deep sadness that we announce the premature passing of Stuart Croft, who has died aged 44. An influential and internationally recognized artist-filmmaker, Stuart’s work investigated the relationship between art and cinema. His signature looping narratives appropriated the visual language and production values of Hollywood into the space of the gallery. This unique sensibility lead Stuart to establish the Moving Image Studio and MA pathway at the Royal College of Art.
Born in 1970 in Leeds, Stuart Croft grew up as an urban Yorkshireman, of which he remained proud. He was an academically bright teenager, experimenting with late punk and exploring the cultural edges of Leeds before attending Newcastle Polytechnic and then Wimbledon School of Art as an undergraduate. He gained a Masters in Fine Art from Chelsea School of Art in 1998. Whilst working at the Serpentine, Chisenhale and South London Galleries he formed an artists collective UNIT and began making what would become a career defining series of short films.
Stuart produced a significant body of work, including Century City (2006) and Drive In (2007) shown at FRED Gallery, Vyner Street, both reflecting his abiding interest in celebrating and unpacking the classical cinema genres. Stag Without a Heart (2010), and the 2011 Bloomberg commission Comma 39 followed. With each film Stuart continued to push boundaries, working with durational dissolves, large-scale studio sets and choreography, film noir tropes. In the prime of his career, Stuart was currently raising funds for his first feature length film, The Kingdom of Angels.
Stuart was a gifted and valued educator. In 2009, he established the Royal College of Art Moving lmage Studio, a teaching and production centre for film and video. From 2013, he led the Moving lmage Pathway, an innovative course model transcending historical divisions between contemporary art and the film industry. A colleague and mentor to many, he made a major contribution to the UK art, film and university communities.
In life as with work, Stuart loved to live with more than a nod to Hollywood, as a fictional undercurrent to his life as an artist in London. He wrote his scripts on an old typewriter, collaborated to create a long form cinema event in a Welsh mansion, more recently working with an LA producer. He strived for a colourful life beyond the quotidian, but remained a loyal, caring and committed friend. He had an incredible ability to seamlessly mix professional and personal relationships, and to infuse both with his wit and humour, passion and dedication.
He was a supportive and loving son, brother and uncle. He continued to spend time walking with his father in the Lake District, with his brother in France, and returning regularly to Leeds. He is survived by his mother, father, brother and sister, countless loving friends and collaborators and a phenomenal legacy of work. Stuart will be greatly missed.
Stuart Croft died on 14th March 2015.
www.stuartcroft.com
http://www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/stuart-croft-1970-2015/