Born 1930, Coventry, West Midlands.

Derek Southall studied at Coventry College of Art from 1943-46 while he was still at school.  He became a full-time student there from 1947-49 and then went to Camberwell School of Art in London from 1949-51 and Goldsmiths' College in London from 1951-52.

A Spencer Travelling Scholarship took him to the Hochschule fur Bildende Kunst in Berlin in 1954.  He returned to Coventry in 1955 to teach at the College of Art and at the Birmingham College of Art.  He was Painter in Residence at the University of South Carolina in 1972.  He was commissioned by the Department of the Environment for work for the New Department of Health Buildings in Newcastle- upon-Tyne.  A BBC film directed by Barry Gavin was made about his work.

Solo exhibitions include the Herbert Art Gallery in Coventry in 1971, Arnolfini in Bristol in 1981 and the Oriel Gallery, Cardiff in 1981.  His work is in the collection of the Herbert Art Gallery in Coventry.  He lives and works in the West Country.

Palindrome Shade