Eric Moody

Born 1946–2023

Eric Moody was born in Sedgefield, County Durham and at the age of 15 went to Sunderland College of Art, and then to Goldsmiths College, London, where he specialised in sculpture. Alongside his practice, Moody taught in London and Canterbury and later returned to education himself to study sociology, philosophy, and psychology at London University. He lived in Cambridge with his partner, Mil Moody, and in July 1974 was included in a group show at Kettle’s Yard, exhibiting alongside David Alexander, Tim Armstrong, Nicholas McKemey and David Spence. In 1976, the Eastern Arts Association organised an exhibition of Moody’s work – alongside that of David Holt – at Kettle’s Yard which was reported upon in the Cambridge Evening News. The newspaper noted Moody’s experimental approach to materials, with works made of ‘rapidly rusting beer and cola cans’ and ‘mouldering tea bags’.

Over his career, Moody developed a focus on discarded materials, working from a small studio at his house in South London. He served on a number of boards for cultural organisations, museums and galleries, and in 1989 gave a paper titled ‘Art and Politics’ at the Museums Association conference, Museums 2000: Politics, People, Professionals, and Profit, in which he criticised the view that art should be expected ‘to achieve all sorts of impossible goals, like helping to revitalize economies and regions’. From 1994 to 2006 Moody was Professor of Cultural Policy and Management at the City University, London, where he taught on the successful Arts Criticism MA and established the Museum and Gallery Management MA.