Richard and Alexis Deacon in-conversation with William Feaver

Richard Deacon studied at Somerset College of Art, Taunton, from 1968-69, St Martins School of Art, London, from 1969-72 and the Royal College of Art, London, from 1974-77. Deacon was Professor at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts, Paris, from 1999-2009. He is currently Professor at the Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf. Deacon’s first one-man show was held in 1978 at The Gallery, Brixton, London. There followed many solo exhibitions, both nationally and internationally, notably at the Riverside Studios in 1984, Tate Gallery, London, in 1985, the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, in 1988 and at Tate Gallery Liverpool in 1999. A major retrospective of his work The Missing Part was shown at museums in France and Germany in 2010-11 and a large-scale survey was exhibited at Tate Britain in early 2014. Richard Deacon was awarded the Turner Prize, Tate Gallery, in 1987 and the Robert Jakobsen Prize, Museum Wurth, Kunzelsau, Germany in 1995. In 1997 he was made Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France and made a CBE in Britain in 1999.

Alexis Deacon is a writer and illustrator of children's books. His first book Slow Loris was published in 2002 and was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award. His second book Beegu was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2004. Alexis’ books have twice been selected for The New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books Award and in 2008 he was chosen by Book Trust as one of the ten best new illustrators of the last decade.