david begbie

artist biography

With over thirty solo shows in four continents, works being collected by many museums (Galleria Nazionali de Arte Moderna, Roma, Italy; National Gallery Canberra, Australia ; Museum Beelden aan Zee, Holland ; National Gallery of Canada ; National History Museum, London, U.-K.) as well as an extensive list of public and private commissions (Natural History Museum, London, U.-K. ; the Faith Dome of the Millennium Dome, Greenwich, U.-K. ; Buddha Bar, London, U.-K. ; Citibank, London, G.-B.; The Hyatt Carlton, London, U.-K. ; Connaught Hotel, London U.-K. ; The Lowry Hotel, Manchester, U.-K. ; Hanover Grange, Montego Bay, Jamaïca, etc.), David Begbie is one of the most influent sculptor in England.

style

Since 1977, he has been investigating the possibilities offered by a one-of-a-kind medium: metal mesh, both bronze and steel. Stretched, dented, or bent, the metal eventually becomes skin. The cold structure hatches into a delicate feminine, masculine or even androgynous mortal coil. He achieves fine sculpting detail of musculature and an aesthetic completeness of human form which has even been compared to Michelangelo and particular Rodin, even though his subject is often that of the partial or truncated figure. But beyond metal, it truly is light that Begbie is modeling. When struck by its rays, the sculptures’ shades start dancing along the walls, the meditative faces of the Buddhas are lit up with a gentle smile and the seraphic figures spread their wings. While this quest for enlightenment is rooted in the artist’s spirituality, it truly is life and the purity of being that the artist celebrates.