Paul Noble at John Soane’s Museum visit

The Drawing Office was once the heart of Sir John Soane’s architectural practice – it was where Soane’s draftsmen and apprenticeships worked up his celebrated projects. Just as Soane supported the next generation of architectural talent, the restoration of the Drawing Office in 2023 marked the beginning of a new residency programme at the Soane. Two three-month residents are hosted per year (in the Spring and the Autumn). The two residents are able to work in the Office and will also be able to use the Museum’s collection, exhibitions and education programme to inspire and inform their work.

Paul Noble was born in Northumberland, in 1963. A meticulous and dedicated draughtsman, Paul creates dizzyingly elaborate encrypted schemes, drawing from inspirations as diverse as ancient Chinese scrolls and Japanese sculptures, Fabergé eggs and brick walls, eighteenth-century pornography and animal rights literature, Hieronymous Bosch and Öyvind Fahlström.

He was included in Abracadabra at the Tate Gallery, London in 1999 and the British Art Show in 2000. In 2002, he took part in Drawing Now: Eight Propositions, Museum of Modern Art, New York and (The World May Be) Fantastic, Biennale of Sydney, Australia. Recent solo exhibitions include Paul Noble: New Works, Gagosian, San Francisco (2017); Paul Noble: Nobson, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2014); The Gates, Gagosian, Athens (2013) and Marble Hall, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2011). Paul Noble was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2012. Paul has supported Drawing Room with making and donating works to our Biennials over many years.

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