The research of the English sculptor Rob Ward is strictly linked to the literature; James Joyce, and Italo Calvino are some of his sources of inspiration. His interest is mainly focused on the way the structure, the rhythm and form of literature can be transformed into sculpture and drawing. His li erature infl uence is much more than an excuse; we can say that it is a full-blown poetic, the text is pre-text, it is the word that comes fi rst, that serves as a hint and as a point of convergence without imposing itself to the image, the material, and forms. The artist, that lives and works in London, is well-known all over the world for his numerous artworks displayed in museums, private collections and public spaces, among which we can mention the ‘’Hymn’’ that is an imposing sculpture installed in Italy in 2009. It was created to celebrate the gold medal for civil value conferred by the President of the Italian Republic to the Grugliasco municipality in memory of the martyrs slayed in 1945. A contemporary cathedral dedicated to the civil values of freedom, democracy, sacrifi ce, loyalty and courage. His upwards triangular form draws inspiration from the traditional idea of the spiritual inner grow through the tension towards the sky, typical of the European gothic cathedrals. Like the cathedrals, this sculpture has been created to last in time; it is made of stainless steel, polished like a mirror so that to refl ect the surrounding space. An important part of his research originates from the dialogue between the two-dimensionality of the drawing and the three-dimensionality of the sculpture. He creates artworks in which he puts in relation big monochromatic drawings with small sculptures made of bronze, steel, or marble. In his ‘’materic’’ paintings, made of pigments and wax, we can see the drawn outlines of the sculptures placed in front of the drawings. The colors are strong, vivid, sometimes iridescent and chatoyant, fi elds of red, blue, yellow, violet and white, they all create a vibrant fourth dimension, almost a fi fth one of a stage on which the sculptures are displayed and interact with the colored background. The artwork that has created for this project is orientated towards the conceptual poetry. He was inspired by the Parsifal of Richard Wagner, musical drama created in 1882, considered sacred par excellence and loaded with religious allusion. ‘Here time turns into space’ is the inscription in relief that comes out from the cast iron. A phrase written in block letter, simple and direct, but carrier of a meaningful message. This sentence was extrapolated from the dialogue between Gurnemanz and Parsifal. ‘Here the time turns into space’, a circle made of cast iron set in the soil, conceived as if it was a door of time, a link between the two temporal spaces, a star gate that suggests the mystic landscape between reality and imagination. The cobalt blue patina, that makes it the only colored artwork, suggests the strong relation with the water and the system water of Cercenasco village
Education
1969-73 University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne BA(Hons) Fine Art 1973-75 University of Reading MFA 1975-76 Greek Government Scholarship, Athens Ecole des Kalon Technon Academia di Bella Arti, Roma (Italian Gov. Scholarship)
Awards
1976 Northern Arts Awards 1982 Northern Arts Awards 1983 Artist in Residence, Grizedale Forest 1985 Lincolnshire and Humberside Arts Award 1989 Artist in Residence, Leeds City Arts Gallery 1990 British Council Grant 1991 Artist in Residence, Grizedale Forest 1994 Yorkshire and Humberside Arts Award 1995 Artist in Residence - Schmidt Centre for Art, Florida Atlantic University 1995 British Council Travel Grant 1999 Centre for Canadian Studies, University of Leeds Travel Grant
Teaching
1973-74 Tutor, University of Reading 1974-77 Chelsea School of Art University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1977-82 University of Newcastle, NSW,Australia Programme Co-ordinator, Sculpture 1982-87 Senior Lecturer in Sculpture Humberside Polytechnic 1987-89 Senior Lecturer in Art and Design West Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education 1989-94 Senior Lecturer, Head of Sculpture Bretton Hall University of Leeds 1994-2001 Principal Lecturer Head of Centre of Sculpture Bretton Hall University of Leeds 2001- Head of Centre for Sculpture, University of Leeds, Bretton Hall 1977-2002 Visiting Lecturer Norwich School of Art Liverpool Polytechnic Newcastle Polytechnic Brighton Polytechnic Massachusetts Institute of Technology Falmouth School of Art Sydney College of Arts, University of New South Wales Royal College of Art Visiting Professor University of Newcastle N.S.W. Australia Florida Atlantic University University of Edmonton, Canada
One Man Exhibitions
1969 Hatton Gallery – University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1975 British Council Gallery – Athens 1976 Hatton Gallery – University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1977 Coventry Gallery – Sydney 1978 These Foolish Things Newcastle Regional Gallery, NSW, Australia 1978 The Sculpture Centre – Sydney 1980 Places, Paths and Mountains Coventry Gallery, Sydney 1983 Northern Centre for Contemporary Art Ceolfrith Gallery Sunderland County Durham 1985 Gone Fishin’ Posterngate Gallery, Kingston-upon-Hull and Polytechnic Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1989 Drawings 1977-1987 and Epiphany Drawings and Sculpture 1988 –89 The Henry Moore Centre for the study of Sculpture, Leeds (first retrospective), Publication 1990 Kimberlin Gallery, Leicester 1990 Le Cadre Gallery, Hong Kong 1991 Le Cadre Gallery, Hong Kong 1991 Ldee Gallery, Tokyo 1992 Le Cadre Gallery, Hong Kong 1994 ‘Crimsworth’ Installation, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham Leeds Metropolitan University Gallery , Music by Bill Nelson, Publication 1995 ‘Conventions, Objects and Fields’, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Perth, Western Australia, Publication 1995 Schmidt Centre Gallery, Florida Atlantic University, U.S.A. 1997 ‘Tracing’,Mark Widdup Fine Art, Newcastle, NSW Australia 1998 ‘Crimsworth’ Drawings, Galleri II Salto del Salmone, Turin, Italy, Publication 1998 ‘Songs’ – 14 bronze sculptures, Usdan Gallery, Bennington, Vermont, USA Publication 2000 ‘Six Memoes for the next millennium’, Chiesa di St Agostina, Bergamo,Italy,Publication 2005 ‘Patterns’ Stephen Lacey Gallery, London “Manufactured in the Uk- line and colour of the British Sculpure” Martin martini Arte Internazionale, Villa Grugliasco, Parco Culturale Le Serre, Grugliasco, (To), Italy, Publication 2007 Stadt Museums Werwaltung, Waiblingen, Germany, Publication,
Group Exhibitions
1973 Young Contemporaries – London, Camden Arts Centre 1974 Reading Museum and Art Gallery 1975 Cleveland International Drawing Biennale – Middlesborough, Publication 1977 Sydney Biennale,Publication 1978 Australian Sculpture Triennial, Mildura Publication 1979 8 x 2 x 3 Sculpture Drawings,Ivan Doherty Gallery, Sydney 1981 Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne 1983 Northern Open-Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,Publication 1983 Drawing in Air: An Exhibition of Sculptor’s Drawings 1882-1982 Ceofrith Gallery and the Henry Moore Centre for the Study of Sculpture, Leeds,Publication 1984 Hull Artist’s Association, Kingston-upon-Hull 1986 Hull Sculpture, Fernes Arts Gallery, Kingston-upon-Hull 1986 Athena Art Awards, Barbican Art Gallery, London,Publication 1991 Redfern Gallery, Summer Show, London 2000 De Saumerez Manor – Jersey, Summer Exhibition 2001 Concepts for New Sculpture, Sculpture at Goodwood,Publication 2002 Drawings and Paintings, Witney Baldwin Interiors, Palm Beach, Florida, USA 2002 Blue – Place Art Contemporanea, Turin, Italy,Publication 2002 21st Century British Sculpture, Guggenheim Museum, Venice, Italy,Publication 2002 British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Notts. Exhibition of Competition Entries 2002 ‘Solid State’ Contemporary British Stone Carving, Burghley Sculpture Garden, Stamford, Lincs,Publication 2003 BLOK, Canterbury Festival of Sculpture. 2003 “ Manufactured in the UK -Form and Content in British Sculpture”, martin martini arte internazionale, Villa Gruliasco, Parco Culturale La Serre, Grugliasco, (To) Italy 2004 International Sculpture Exhibition, Castello di Aglie, Italy 2005 “ Uk Project - Patterns” martin martini Arte Internazionale, Nave, Parco Culturale La Serre, Grugliasco, (To) Italy 2006 “Manufactured in the Uk -Line and Colour in British Art” Martin martini Arte Internazionale, Chalet Allemand. Grugliasco, Italy 2006 18@ 108. Bronze . Royal British Society of Sculptors. London 2007 Toyamura Sculpture Biennale. Toyamura. Japan . Publication 2007 Art is Steel . Arcelor Mittal. Reims France 2007 Concours Europeen de sculptures monumentales Publication 2008 Neue Kunst in Alten Garten . Gehrden – Lenthe . Hanover .Germany
Commissions
1991 Ironbridge Open Air Museum of Steel Sculpture Permanent sitting of ‘Epiphany’ 1991 Grizedale Forest, Cumbria Residency and Installation of - Tall Poppies 1992 ICI Huddersfield, UK, Installation of ‘Building Bridges’ 1994 Tall Poppies Installation and sitting Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2000 Guilin, China, Installation of ‘Philosophical Sculpture’ 2000 Installation of ‘Centurion’, Newcastle Railway Station 2001 Sculpture at Goodwood. Commission to produce ‘Cathedral’ 2001 Manor Heath, Halifax, Installation of ‘Poppy’ 2001 Arriva, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Installation of ‘Oil Catcher’ 2003 Commission to produce ‘Twin Spires’, Calder Park, Wakefield 2004 Commission to produce sculpture for Another Paradise Taiwan, 2004 Commission to produce sculpture for Gesipa. Germany 2005 Commission to produce” Palace” and” Zig”. Menin Developments , Florida U.S.A 2006 Commission to produce “ Ships of Fools” and “ Flower”for Shanghai Sculpture Park. China 2006 Commission to produce “ 1634 “. Stadt Museum Waiblingen , Germany. 2006 Commission to produce Ducks , Leather and Bells . Waiblingen Germany 2007 Commission to produce. Gate. Cass Sculpture Foundation. Goodwood . U.K 2008 “hymn” Commission to produce Monument, in collaboration with Martin Martini Arte Internazionale, City of Grugliasco. Turin, Italy 2008 Commission to produce Arcelor Mittal Awards
Collections
Newcastle Regional Gallery NSW, Australia Fernes Art Gallery Kingston-upon-Hull Henry Moore Centre for Study of Sculpture Leeds City Art Gallery Northern Arts Ironbridge Museum of Steel Sculpture Grizedale Forest Yorkshire Sculpture Park Arriva – UK Guilin Yuzi Paradise – China Private Collections in Australia, Great Britain, USA, Canada, Hong Kong
Articles
Rob Ward Dr David Bromfield 1980, Coventry Gallery Rob Ward Bill Varley Re: Guardian 1983 Rob Ward Urszula Szulakowska Artefactum November 1991 Rob Ward Urszula Szulakowska Recent Paintings Catalogue Introduction 1992 Six Memos Susan Blunt 1993 Visual Poetry Susan Blunt 1992 Feeling after Falling John Penny 1994 Catalogue Notes Exhibition Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham Leeds Metropolitan University Conventions, Objects, Fields Urszula Szulakowska Exhibitions Catalogue Schmidt Centre Gallery, Florida Atlantic University, USA. Published by Stichting Het Grafisch Centrum Crimsworth Urszula Szulakowska, Catalogue II Salto del Salmone Published by Making Space Songs Urszula Szulakowska, Catalogue Published by Making Space Six Memos for the Next Millennium Catalogue Text by Elli Grazioli Published by Making Space Sculpture Message John Spurling, The Spectator Concepts for New Sculpture 2001 Thinking Big 21st Century British Sculpture Guggenheim Museum, Venice Articles by Tim Marlow & Rob Mengham Solid State Contemporary British Stone Carving BLOK Canterbury Festival of Sculpture Form and Content in British Sculpture Catalogue text by Patrizia Bottallo Patterns Catalogue text by Cathy Ward Membership of Professional Organisations 1977 Member Higher Education Board of New South Wales 1983-85 CNAA Panel Member 1987-89 Welsh Advisory Board on Foundation Studies 1993-94 External Assessor University of Derby 1997 Arts Council Assessor Combined Arts Unit 1998 External Assessor University of Sunderland 2000 Associate Member Royal Society of British Sculpture 2000 Elected Fellow Royal Society of Arts 2000 Elected Trustee, Royal Society of British Sculptors 2000 External Examiner, Kent Institute of Art & Design
Conferences
1997 International Sculpture Conference – Chicago 1999 Six Memos for the Next Millennium 1999 International Sculpture Conference, Houston, Texas 2000 Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. ‘ Remix’ featuring Six Memos for the Next Millennium 2000 International Sculpture Symposium, Guilin, China.