Britain in Colour

Britain in Colour (2006) is an artist’s book by David Ferry and R. M. Lockley (who is the original author). Ferry was born in Blackpool in 1957 and received his MFA in Fine Art Printmaking. He lectured at many different schools and art institutions.

Tourist literature is celebrated and disturbed in Ferry’s photomontages which create an odd experience of travel. An accelerating modernity contradicts the sense of pure nostalgia on the one hand and a need for good design on the other. Ferry’s books and prints bear witness to the influence of John Heartfield and the DADA photomontage tradition. Ferry’s desire is to create an affectionate commentary on life in Britain, including some of its secrets, rather than to produce images for political purposes. Ferry’s works creates a parallel world where thatched cottages and fabricated industrial laminates make strange but endearing combinations.


His collage corruptions perform interventions that juxtapose the lyrical with the unexpected. This is an altered book in which rocks and mountains make humourous yet ominous intrusions into the banal tourist landscapes depicted in the original publication.


David Ferry, Cantebury, Kent, England. Available: http://www.booklyn.org/artists/David%20Ferry,%20Cantebury,%20Kent,%20England.php