Was in Lodge moved by VASG into Octagon Room 2016
Geoffrey Clarke RA (1924-2014) was a pioneer in British sculpture, his bold experimentation with materials and processes putting him right at the heart of a vibrant post-war art scene.
Born in Derbyshire, Clarke studied at Preston School of Art and at Manchester School of Art before serving in the War with the RAF. He returned to his studying at Lancaster and Morecambe School of Arts and Crafts, before attending the Royal College of Art. While studying stained glass here, he was selected to work on a monumental public commission – the windows of Coventry Cathedral.
Clarke had his first solo show at Gimpel Fils Gallery in London in 1952, the same year in which his work was included in the Venice Biennale with seven other British sculptors. His work was included in British Sculpture in the 1960s exhibition at the Tate Gallery. Similarly, he was selected for British Sculptors ‘72 at the Royal Academy of Arts and for British Sculpture in the Twentieth Century at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1981.
Part of a generation who led a sculpture renaissance in Britain in the 1950s, Clarke went on to make his name through experimenting with his materials, finding new and radical ways to use them. With his method of making his models in polystyrene and use them for direct casting, and experiments casting in aluminium rather than bronze, Clarke became one of the most commissioned British sculptors of the twentieth century. “As I have never had the feeling to model in clay or to use the traditional casting methods I realised that I must discover a more rapid and direct technique. A friend told me about polystyrene. And so since 1958 I have been working with polystyrene and aluminium,” he explained.
Clarke was elected to the Royal Academy in 1975.
