A renowned avant-garde artist, poet and filmmaker who grew up in Trowbridge has died.

Jeff Keen, 88, was born in Trowbridge in 1923 and grew up there. He died last Thursday in Brighton after a long battle with cancer and Parkinson’s disease.

After the Second World War he moved to London to study art and then to Brighton, where he was based for the rest of his life.

He was best known for his film work, where he loved to experiment, and created more than 70 films and videos.

Much of his work was shot with friends and family either at home, on the streets of Brighton or at the local tip.

His wife Jackie and daughter Stella would often appear in the films, as would Mr Keen himself, in his alter ego of Dr Gaz, a sort of mad scientist figure.

His work included several multi-screen pieces, live art performances and cartoons.

Mr Keen was known for combining numerous techniques in one film, including collages, animation, found footage and live action and had a love for mysticism and surrealism.

In addition to his work in film, Mr Keen created art, including paintings, sketches, sculpture and poetry and produced drawings almost every day.

The Tate recently described him as “an important missing link in art history”.

In 1966 he helped to found the London Filmmakers’ Co-Operative and participated in the Festival of Underground Film at the National Film Theatre in 1970.

Some of his non-film art was recently exhibited in Paris and New York in 2011 and 2012 and drew critical acclaim.

He said: “Money never interested me. I’ve always been interested in creating something unique. That’s art, although it may look like something else, it still remains its own thing, separate.”

His daughter Stella said: “I knew him as a wonderful kind and loving father with an incredible intelligence, talent and fantastic playful sense of humour – even in the depths of terrible illness. Amazingly strong, stoical and passionate about making art.”

Tate Modern will present Jeff Keen Expanded Cinema events in September and Brighton Museum is planning a retrospective exhibition in October.