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| Farewell Bruce Lacey, multifaceted artist who was one of a kind Farewell Bruce Lacey, multifaceted artist who was one of a kind | |
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| “Oddball comedian, actor, painter and sculptor, bricolage inventor of robots and automata, post-hippy shaman, errant guru to travelling bands of new age travellers, and who knows what else,” is how the Guardian critic Adrian Searle once described Bruce Lacey, who came to prominence in the late 1950s. | “Oddball comedian, actor, painter and sculptor, bricolage inventor of robots and automata, post-hippy shaman, errant guru to travelling bands of new age travellers, and who knows what else,” is how the Guardian critic Adrian Searle once described Bruce Lacey, who came to prominence in the late 1950s. |
| His family told the Guardian that Lacey – a performance artist well before such a concept existed – had died on Thursday, aged 88. | His family told the Guardian that Lacey – a performance artist well before such a concept existed – had died on Thursday, aged 88. |
| He once said he was pleased when the term “performance art” was coined because “it finally explained what I’d been doing all my life”. | He once said he was pleased when the term “performance art” was coined because “it finally explained what I’d been doing all my life”. |
| His family said: “Most artists tend to stick to one discipline but Bruce Lacey always was prepared to try new things, to push ideas, materials and boundaries. As he would put it, he would metamorphosise through his work and often, in this respect, he was ahead of his time. | His family said: “Most artists tend to stick to one discipline but Bruce Lacey always was prepared to try new things, to push ideas, materials and boundaries. As he would put it, he would metamorphosise through his work and often, in this respect, he was ahead of his time. |
| “His legacy and his influence can be seen through other generations of artists. At times, he may have flirted with fame but he was never seduced by it. Others may emulate, but there will only ever be one Bruce Lacey.” | “His legacy and his influence can be seen through other generations of artists. At times, he may have flirted with fame but he was never seduced by it. Others may emulate, but there will only ever be one Bruce Lacey.” |
| Born in 1927 to a house painter father and a milliner mother, he grew up in Lewisham, south-east London, and began drawing and painting in his late teens while recovering from tuberculosis. | Born in 1927 to a house painter father and a milliner mother, he grew up in Lewisham, south-east London, and began drawing and painting in his late teens while recovering from tuberculosis. |
| After graduating from the Royal College of Art in the early 1950s, he designed robotic props for the post-Goon Show TV careers of Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers and often appeared with them on stage. | After graduating from the Royal College of Art in the early 1950s, he designed robotic props for the post-Goon Show TV careers of Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers and often appeared with them on stage. |
| Lacey collaborated on Richard Lester’s The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film with Sellers and Milligan in 1959, which led to his most famous big-screen role as George Harrison’s gardener in the Lester-directed Beatles movie Help! in 1965. | Lacey collaborated on Richard Lester’s The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film with Sellers and Milligan in 1959, which led to his most famous big-screen role as George Harrison’s gardener in the Lester-directed Beatles movie Help! in 1965. |
| Three years earlier a young Ken Russell had made a 16-minute film about the artist for the BBC, called The Preservation Man. | Three years earlier a young Ken Russell had made a 16-minute film about the artist for the BBC, called The Preservation Man. |
| In 2012, to coincide with a exhibition titled the Bruce Lacey Experience at the Camden Arts Centre, the artist Jeremy Deller and film-maker Nick Abrahams made a documentary that aimed to capture the spirit of an artist some described as “visionary”. | In 2012, to coincide with a exhibition titled the Bruce Lacey Experience at the Camden Arts Centre, the artist Jeremy Deller and film-maker Nick Abrahams made a documentary that aimed to capture the spirit of an artist some described as “visionary”. |
| Deller, who won the Turner prize in 2004, said at the time: “When we met Bruce Lacey we were entranced – a modern-day magus in brightly coloured clothes, he combines a very British interest in art and science, bringing them together in a way unlike anyone else either of us had encountered. It was as if [16th-century polymath and occultist] Dr Dee had been reimagined by the Goons.” | Deller, who won the Turner prize in 2004, said at the time: “When we met Bruce Lacey we were entranced – a modern-day magus in brightly coloured clothes, he combines a very British interest in art and science, bringing them together in a way unlike anyone else either of us had encountered. It was as if [16th-century polymath and occultist] Dr Dee had been reimagined by the Goons.” |
| As well as having a one-man show, Lacey appeared in the late 1950s and early 1960s with a musical comedy group called the Alberts, where he was billed as “Professor” Bruce Lacey. | As well as having a one-man show, Lacey appeared in the late 1950s and early 1960s with a musical comedy group called the Alberts, where he was billed as “Professor” Bruce Lacey. |
| One of his creations included an early automaton named Rosa Bosom, which Lacey took with him when he moved to Wymondham in rural Norfolk in the late 1960s, with his wife and collaborator Jill Bruce. He lived in a farmhouse that was filled with stuffed dummies and robots, including Rosa Bosom. | One of his creations included an early automaton named Rosa Bosom, which Lacey took with him when he moved to Wymondham in rural Norfolk in the late 1960s, with his wife and collaborator Jill Bruce. He lived in a farmhouse that was filled with stuffed dummies and robots, including Rosa Bosom. |
| Another of his robots, The Womaniser, was bought by the Tate. It was inspired by Lacey “wondering what it would be like to be a hermaphrodite and make love to myself. It had six breasts and rubber gloves that inflated every 30 seconds.” | Another of his robots, The Womaniser, was bought by the Tate. It was inspired by Lacey “wondering what it would be like to be a hermaphrodite and make love to myself. It had six breasts and rubber gloves that inflated every 30 seconds.” |
| His robots also appear on the Fairport Convention song Mr Lacey, written about the artist, which is on the group’s album What We Did On Our Holidays. | His robots also appear on the Fairport Convention song Mr Lacey, written about the artist, which is on the group’s album What We Did On Our Holidays. |
| David Alan Mellor, a professor of history of art at the University of Sussex, played a significant part in highlighting Lacey’s contribution to post-war British art. Starting in 1992, Mellor encouraged him to refurbish the 1960s “kinetic sculptures” he still owned and later, through Lacey’s archive, to establish a more comprehensive chronological framework as well as locating privately owned sculptures and paintings. | David Alan Mellor, a professor of history of art at the University of Sussex, played a significant part in highlighting Lacey’s contribution to post-war British art. Starting in 1992, Mellor encouraged him to refurbish the 1960s “kinetic sculptures” he still owned and later, through Lacey’s archive, to establish a more comprehensive chronological framework as well as locating privately owned sculptures and paintings. |