Previous
John Gibbons Temple, 1996-97
Using architectural form in a purely expressive, non-functional way is one of the central themes of John Gibbons' sculpture. Born in 1949 in County Clare, in Western Ireland, from an early age Gibbons was fascinated by the numerous castles, tombs, churches and ancient monuments in the local landscape. These structures were richly suggestive of Ireland's historic past. But his imagination was fired in particular by the evidence of a long vanished human presence which he found in their strategic positioning, ruined fabric, and mysterious interiors. To enter and occupy them, Gibbons found, was to be drawn into a context rich in implication. They recalled a world of containment and protection, power and control. Through these places he gained an awareness of the way interior, habitable space can resonate with human experience.
-Paul Moorhouse, From Form to Metaphor: John Gibbons' Sculpture, published by Kettle's Yard, University of Cambridge, 1997.
Steel
78 x 74 x 75 cm
30 3/4 x 29 1/4 x 29 1/2 in
30 3/4 x 29 1/4 x 29 1/2 in
John Gibbons (b. 1949) studied at St Martin's School of Art between 1972 and 1976. In 2003 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. Since his childhood days when he explored ruined castles in his native Ireland, architecture has been important - its proportion responding to human scale, the sense of what is inside expressed by what is outside, and the functions of its details. Rooted in industrial tanks, piping, and girders, his sculptural forms are transformed through cutting and welding into expressions of the artist's will, with their original function lingering only as a residue.
Body and spirit have been a constant subject for Gibbons as they refer to the various states in which we as humans find ourselves. These states are inferred through the nature and use of material, scale, reference, and detail. Gibbons' affinity for steel in his practice stems from the material's properties-its flexibility allows the artist to create strong formal compositions and imaginative forms.
Significant solo exhibitions include John Gibbons, Sculpture 1981-86, Serpentine Gallery, London (1986); Form and Metaphor, touring exhibition to The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester and Kettle's Yard, Cambridge (1997); John Gibbons Portraits, The National Portrait Gallery, London (2009/2010); and John Gibbons: Sculpture & Drawing, Royal British Society of Sculptors, London (2011).
AFG 27605
Your shopping bag
This purchase may be subject to local rates of import, sales and use taxes for which the purchaser is 100% liable.
No items found
Close
Your saved list
Create a list of works then send us an enquiry.
No items found