Richard DEACON

From the start of his career, Richard Deacon – now an internationally recognized figure in contemporary sculpture – dubbed himself more of a ‘fabricator’ than a ‘sculptor.’ He creates open forms, alternately empty and full, which extend in space to provoke a dynamic with viewers’ bodies. His works hide nothing of their technical preparation, leaving rivets, nails and other items used in their assembly clearly visible, accentuating the physical experience of the sculpted object. The recurring themes of nature and the human body are implicitly present, and often allude to anatomical functions, especially the organs of perception.

Deacon first made his mark in the early 1980s, as a figure in what was termed New British Sculpture. He won the 1987 Turner Prize; was appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France’s Minister of Culture in 1996; was made a C.B.E. in 1999; and represented Wales at the 2007 Venice Biennale.