David Klein, July 2013
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Transcript of David Klein, July 2013
david klein ARBS
2nd – 19th July 2013
THACKERAYGALLERY
EST. 1968
‘Poised’ is a look back at the four themes that have called, fascinated and absorbedme over the past 20 years of carving. Over the last 10 years, I’ve had the goodfortune to collaborate with Sarah and everyone at the Thackeray, this unique andimportant gallery – indeed, my first solo show was at the Thackeray in July 2003.
My first theme ‘Contained’ is a series of carvings representing my interest in thebalance between what is revealed and what is left behind. These carvings emergeand escape from the stone, yet stay contained within it.
‘Torsos’ were an early obsession borne out of a number of pot figures Iexperimented with at the Frink School. Again, leaving much unsaid, they havebeen an exploration in form, line and proportion which naturally led to the‘Goddess Series’ – my third theme.
This work started with the large bottomed Earth Mother figures from which grewthe matriarchs and themes of fertility, romance, dance, movement and formaldistortion.
The last series ‘Heads’ are predominantly male, in contrast to my other work.These monumental pieces have been fed by my interest in portraiture andinfluenced by the African figures I saw in my childhood. The exotic African stonehas given me a lovely freedom to explore the complex and elemental relationshipswe have with facial recognition from our earliest moments.
A friend of mine at college said to me “If you hit stone for long enough, it’s got toteach you something” and indeed it has been this dialogue with these very differentnatural stones – from the delicious marbles to the softer honey-coloured Bath stonethat have been such a delight. Whether working closely to the human form ordeparting from it, the experience is at once intensely enjoyable and deeplyengaging. It can seem almost a process of meditation within which amore intuitive and distantly familiar set of rules apply.
I feel proud to be working within the figurative tradition; it can span timesand cultures, connect us with our ancestors and hopefully be intelligible togenerations to come.
David Klein ARBS, 2013
4
contained VI
bath stone
55x26x42cm
6
torso – origin
carrara marble
45x25x20cm
8
contained – war horse
bath stone
55x80x25cm
10
goddess – dance II
portland stone
75x20x20cm
12
torso – counterpoint
sienna white
150x30x30cm
14
goddess – goddess II
carrara marble
42x38x30cm
16
torso – line
bath stone
160x35x35cm
18
flight
cobalt blue african stone
40x70x14cm
20
contained – captive
portland stone
80x60x40cm
22
goddess – earth mother
sand stone
30x25x30cm
24
contained – emergence IV
bath stone
130x60x25cm
26
contained – contemplation II
bath stone
65x30x50cm
28
goddess – dance I
carrara marble
65x13x13cm
30
goddess – dance III
portland stone
90x22x22cm
32
goddess – outcry
carrara marble
45x50x30cm
BIOGRAPHY
David Klein was born in 1962. He started his working life in engineering, duringwhich time he was fortunate to meet the sculptor John Jennings, and later becomehis assistant. This experience led him to make the bold step to further realise hispassion for sculpting, by doing a Fine Art Degree at Staffordshire University, from1992-1994. He continued his studies with a further two years at the Frink Schoolof Sculpture doing a postgraduate course in figurative sculpting, from 1994-1996.David now lives and carves on the South Coast of England, close to the quarrieswhere he personally sources his materials.
David says of his work:“Carving limestone is like carving through time, slowly revealing thesedementary layers of this Jurassic rock which was laid down 600 millionyears ago under the sea”.
David has had five solo shows with Thackeray Gallery. In 2007, he also showedhis work at the V&A Musuem. In 2010, he was elected a member of the RoyalBritish Society of Sculptors (ARBS) and the Society of Portrait Sculptors (SPS). In2010 and 2011, he was invited to exhibit in ‘Face’, Society of Portrait SculptorsShow, Cork Street, London, where he was awarded the ‘Freakley Prize’ forOutstanding Portraiture at the Cork Street Show in 2011.
David Klein has been exhibiting with Thackeray Gallery since 2002.
“David’s core belief is in form, and form is the beating heart of sculpture. Hiswork is filled with life and bursting with energy. He has anchored hisunderstanding in the things that matter and joins the select company of youngsculptors who will make a real difference”.
Martin Jennings FRBS, 2007