tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43060115823976052012024-03-21T09:03:47.549-07:00Paul William Mason - SculptorDavid Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-38028714356781184342023-08-22T09:41:00.000-07:002023-08-22T09:41:03.244-07:00Untitled & Undated Drawing<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mCZysGYiG58L-OBIqMH27fA-L4DBoyFudK2eqN50BRm-iS3HymqUzInL90SD69dD-9jZX3fEZTxt2WXdS2j-0_IV6x2w6bD4e0x5pfjqKYRt_-JJpJ-NP931Oe06DBZY811N551u3HgxMjgL3hKcqrkwS66Mk-4tbbDRP4rsT0DQ1IhEvfIpOZsRvJQ/s3774/IMG_6570.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="2676" data-original-width="3774" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_mCZysGYiG58L-OBIqMH27fA-L4DBoyFudK2eqN50BRm-iS3HymqUzInL90SD69dD-9jZX3fEZTxt2WXdS2j-0_IV6x2w6bD4e0x5pfjqKYRt_-JJpJ-NP931Oe06DBZY811N551u3HgxMjgL3hKcqrkwS66Mk-4tbbDRP4rsT0DQ1IhEvfIpOZsRvJQ/s320/IMG_6570.JPG"/></a></div>
I have quite a few drawings that are both untitled and undated. And though I knew the work better than most I cannot be sure exactly when this work was made. However I suspect it is from the early period after Paul had completed his studies at the Royal Academy. It measures 47.5 x 66 cms. Although stylistically from this period some of the forms look forward to works made a decade or two later.David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-17124922023869579502019-05-15T08:48:00.000-07:002019-05-15T08:53:47.341-07:00Leaf Stem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7A5l2TrG6IWroc84boVobSGXy_C0LJHEnEKJbKhhqs9Wt0UOhOfEbjGCiLMKyZq3vVca01Hj_uyPOBGhI_PcYE-PtkBl4HCGJFjAkkLdLR5WNASoiUU8fMTB8CPQm2LFcIkG2MFw_gqI/s1600/img100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="982" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7A5l2TrG6IWroc84boVobSGXy_C0LJHEnEKJbKhhqs9Wt0UOhOfEbjGCiLMKyZq3vVca01Hj_uyPOBGhI_PcYE-PtkBl4HCGJFjAkkLdLR5WNASoiUU8fMTB8CPQm2LFcIkG2MFw_gqI/s320/img100.jpg" width="196" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
In the mid 1980's Mason was one of a small group of locally based artists chosen to create public artworks for an initiative jointly stimulated by Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County councils. With support from East Midlands Arts, through advice from the Visual Arts Officer David Manley, City Technical Services Director John Haslam selected a number of proposals for consideration. Paul Mason had produced a small maquette in marble for a large work that he envisaged in the same material that would take the form of a fountain. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyl5gt82Nz-aWKggB17UeRJcYcnT-2uWQMghg1ML-buiI4j0qy6n9mzjRzzovFg9bsEndZHiQHI2QX-_6PNxHAgyK3NjiKh_4oaZNB0HeQWrafyWWvSMh79NkFF2Ad6RizyxH_sIuMPe0/s1600/Mason+Paul1+Leafstem+Maquette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1081" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyl5gt82Nz-aWKggB17UeRJcYcnT-2uWQMghg1ML-buiI4j0qy6n9mzjRzzovFg9bsEndZHiQHI2QX-_6PNxHAgyK3NjiKh_4oaZNB0HeQWrafyWWvSMh79NkFF2Ad6RizyxH_sIuMPe0/s320/Mason+Paul1+Leafstem+Maquette.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original maquette</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
This was chosen (alongside pieces by <a href="https://richardperrysculpture.com/">Richard Perry</a> & <a href="http://www.hilarycartmel.co.uk/">Hilary Cartmel</a>) to be in the vanguard of an ambitious scheme of re-envisaging the city (to include better street furniture, plantings and surfaces) along the lines of other Continental cities that Haslam had seen on recent excursions to Germany and elsewhere. For Mason it required a deal of research and the eventual contracting of an Italian marble quarry to supply the stone. As importantly it further stimulated an interest in Italy and particularly in the marble quarries and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apuan_Alps">Apuan</a> Alps region of northern Tuscany. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Following initial visits the artist dispatched the maquette to the workshop in Italy where a phone call suggested the masons there "might rough the stone out" following the form from the piece sent through to them. The artist was therefore surprised to arrive in Italy to find the piece very nearly completed! The photo above shows the stone when the artist arrived in the yard...and the one below as sited in Nottingham. Mason recalled that the workers in the yard told the story of Henry Moore similarly finding a piece virtually completed. On that occasion the press were invited and with a photo of the 'maestro' about to be taken of him 'finishing' the piece with chisel in hand...the master carver of the yard stepped forward advising that he was holding it at the wrong angle! Anyone who has visited Carrara, Massa or Pietrasanta and seen some of the exotic pieces carved from this material will see just how complex some of the work can be. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy7bPAinMLvY42qWVvnFqZacOVuBoIOrXE69Knh5DOeKyxaFOAtfE9im1Tutv26RNfvlSW178S-Fw9M14tfqFyW-NlhagIa4bUClWx281pI_FhidH1mq7tT6JtekfuTp_GK4AIAQWCaBc/s1600/Symposium+22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy7bPAinMLvY42qWVvnFqZacOVuBoIOrXE69Knh5DOeKyxaFOAtfE9im1Tutv26RNfvlSW178S-Fw9M14tfqFyW-NlhagIa4bUClWx281pI_FhidH1mq7tT6JtekfuTp_GK4AIAQWCaBc/s320/Symposium+22.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">marble Fiat!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The <a href="http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMX2GZ_Leaf_Stem_Lister_Gate_Nottingham_Nottinghamshire">sited work</a> has been controversial from the beginning. Like the <a href="https://beestonian.com/category/history/">Beeston piece Water Head</a>, it has been much discussed. My contribution to this can be found <a href="https://beestonia.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/beestonia-on-the-stump-courtesy-of-tamar-feast/">here</a>, in an interview with Tamar Feast.</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9CNoAp53WqcpY67Znr6cyGNP8_02_qCy-Ji_HMjbP0DouukczasLykFl_mNyz1AbkLPNVol0WDwCjJrpLGOYt7SchojVKPmb4-HJA9BsUhEaZMKN7FbJ1bygvgWnJGpafG_LhR5mFik/s1600/Mason.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1143" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9CNoAp53WqcpY67Znr6cyGNP8_02_qCy-Ji_HMjbP0DouukczasLykFl_mNyz1AbkLPNVol0WDwCjJrpLGOYt7SchojVKPmb4-HJA9BsUhEaZMKN7FbJ1bygvgWnJGpafG_LhR5mFik/s320/Mason.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-34112960766620037962018-10-14T02:42:00.000-07:002018-10-14T02:42:28.147-07:00At Auction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XD0xWK3gK3KnzVPcz7Ev6eiCy46SDu0AbhzmAv1qnwnaaVhOlK4k3c3hfSwg17Ag1_X6ad0PfQG1MSpxbQzLfyMmYNeihNbT9sbppPOGAmcgF5nWcVUVyRInj2xaQ_S1kH_ASEs0MtA/s1600/271511_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="1000" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XD0xWK3gK3KnzVPcz7Ev6eiCy46SDu0AbhzmAv1qnwnaaVhOlK4k3c3hfSwg17Ag1_X6ad0PfQG1MSpxbQzLfyMmYNeihNbT9sbppPOGAmcgF5nWcVUVyRInj2xaQ_S1kH_ASEs0MtA/s320/271511_0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
It is rare that a PWM work comes up at auction. Rarer still outside of the Capital. But here we have <b><i>Shifting Ground</i></b>, a collage from 1985, 23.5 x 63 cm. It was one of the works in <i>The Cutting Edge</i>, the large, one person exhibition that opened at Bolton Museum & Art Gallery in 1987 and touring to Wolverhampton and Lincoln. It is related to the series of low bas-reliefs in marble produced in the early nineteen eighties, several of which found their way into public collections. This piece is featured in the auction of Modern & Contemporary Art at Tennants in Leyburn, North Yorkshire in six days time (10:30 am., 20th October, 2018).</div>
<br />David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-35662836241761680582017-07-25T09:12:00.000-07:002017-07-25T09:12:27.940-07:00Vertex<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0YyX5XdNDAny0XfqF9IlE1fQypEuTXhJv5mVS7-okJyyd7DM3IbePEG06O08aFfZr2xMhe3iAEVRLJjVHi1W7cuFjDByGyMqUn1pAQApmX-uAFiHaZNIKz71OSFO8HcC_rTAyaNUbQD4/s1600/IMG_1228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0YyX5XdNDAny0XfqF9IlE1fQypEuTXhJv5mVS7-okJyyd7DM3IbePEG06O08aFfZr2xMhe3iAEVRLJjVHi1W7cuFjDByGyMqUn1pAQApmX-uAFiHaZNIKz71OSFO8HcC_rTAyaNUbQD4/s320/IMG_1228.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybXTDzcYwPxqrnzzV_w_qEfG8IoiZvWL6iTFXo5LrkEwuU3o4bwh3sEqcV-eqgBeYPLGG17E_5C4sBUxbmrYUdDQ0_csc_3-MD4CK-gXeEMyPf2w4cH5g8MFY8oL66Td40m2j0dSTUDM/s1600/IMG_1229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybXTDzcYwPxqrnzzV_w_qEfG8IoiZvWL6iTFXo5LrkEwuU3o4bwh3sEqcV-eqgBeYPLGG17E_5C4sBUxbmrYUdDQ0_csc_3-MD4CK-gXeEMyPf2w4cH5g8MFY8oL66Td40m2j0dSTUDM/s320/IMG_1229.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Commisioned in 1979 Vertex is the first of the artist's many public works. Sited in the centre of Harlow New Town on the Broad Walk the piece is in remarkably good condition as seen on the day of my visit (July 2017). This is in no small part to the choice of a dove grey bardolino marble sourced from Carrara. </div>
David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-84213902179352924402017-06-22T23:36:00.001-07:002017-06-22T23:36:42.059-07:00Absent Friend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQ3JP_2HQ4gTvY4ktmUFe10pnsArXauy57qycmrqtyDmAenRONyemBhipQASEXxGNfYEketJKBIlL9YSnS25Y1XR4LdA8JlporieNeK9YsXoRHKLR5DSvr1bvSJSFlAdXXzJbL45rdWo/s1600/Scan.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="386" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQ3JP_2HQ4gTvY4ktmUFe10pnsArXauy57qycmrqtyDmAenRONyemBhipQASEXxGNfYEketJKBIlL9YSnS25Y1XR4LdA8JlporieNeK9YsXoRHKLR5DSvr1bvSJSFlAdXXzJbL45rdWo/s320/Scan.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-24617597632284883592017-05-23T00:11:00.000-07:002017-05-23T00:11:52.870-07:00Leaf Fields<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYFGifyBb-rTa42QLwQ9eQIUCd-GKszeejvWE7apUfXFoHOMNA0WhwfxvhuuhEy68-O11Kjz6TjsRMA4lC1oxGa6Lzy8wdQ4eryEy_1ORbkWEabxnQzJgXKDvsb8XbeOpI3qwhT8Lwwc/s1600/pwm10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYFGifyBb-rTa42QLwQ9eQIUCd-GKszeejvWE7apUfXFoHOMNA0WhwfxvhuuhEy68-O11Kjz6TjsRMA4lC1oxGa6Lzy8wdQ4eryEy_1ORbkWEabxnQzJgXKDvsb8XbeOpI3qwhT8Lwwc/s320/pwm10.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaf Fields, 1985</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">In a published interview at the time of the exhibition <i>The Cutting Edge</i> curator Rebecca Morris asks the artist Paul Mason “do you think you have an important role to play in making works for public places”?</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; min-height: 17px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><i>“Yes, very much so. There was a time when sculptors worked with planners and architects as a matter of course. Recently though, there has been a resurgence of interest in putting works out-of-doors and in public places, which has been very exciting. It is much more interesting to go into a place where there is sculpture as long as certain formal criteria have been considered such as the scale of the work, its texture, colour, how it relates to the surrounding space, etc. These are qualities that sculptors are dealing with all the time. I think the work of sculptors can encourage movement in and around and though a site, so rather than people rushing through a space and not pausing, a sculpture can slow them down, make them pause for thought and hopefully also enhance their lives.”</i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; min-height: 17px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">The passage of time and the seemingly endless disturbances in many urban environments nowadays can play havoc with the siting, condition and context of contemporary sculpture. Taken together with the medium’s capacity (still) to stir up controversy these conditions often impact adversely on work made for public sites. Mason’s work is no stranger to such events. Indeed several public commissions, all less than forty years old, have been either re-sited or, worse still, destroyed in the recent past. However, from time to time, some have been rescued from relative neglect and either restored or re-sited through the sensitivity and determination of supporters. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmsHs4y9i5-XmF9Pi0A013xj5TiNmfeFqzBv3pCUBsjjg7qiVS-ku5fq6BEEBRPRvBTB5QZjswEmWPlX41BpTjc2nAqjdzb7OJYvuXn9vGTiI5wuvy_8kjADnwTiQB3rPu7q3D0YKD_Nc/s1600/pwm01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmsHs4y9i5-XmF9Pi0A013xj5TiNmfeFqzBv3pCUBsjjg7qiVS-ku5fq6BEEBRPRvBTB5QZjswEmWPlX41BpTjc2nAqjdzb7OJYvuXn9vGTiI5wuvy_8kjADnwTiQB3rPu7q3D0YKD_Nc/s320/pwm01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cllr. Frances Leonard, Mayor of St. Albans, with (to her right), Chris McIntyre, University of Hertfordshire</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; min-height: 17px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">On 9th May 2017 one such - </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Leaf Fields</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> - was rededicated in St. Albans through the combined efforts of initial commissioners and supporters, current public officials and determined lobbying from the Dean of Cultural Affairs and Director of University of Hertfordshire Arts Chris McIntyre.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Sandy Walkington, one of the original commissioning group spoke to the controversy that attended the selection of the work at its initiation - through financial support from the Hertfordshire Association of Architects (the local branch of the Royal Institute of British Architects) and told of the circumstances of its siting in St. Albans - allegedly the first such work in the city.</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; min-height: 17px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">The passage of time makes its mark on the work too of course. Especially so with a material like Clipsham limestone. Mason was at pains to carve pieces to sit against the grain of the material so that a degree of protection is afforded to those surfaces that have not been polished. But such open surfaces as those where the evidence of the plug & feather marks remains are especially vulnerable to colouration and colonisation by lichens. In Leaf Fields these are visible on the undersides of the ‘prow’ of the piece as it is positioned in the raised bed. Whether or not the piece would benefit from significant restitution is debatable though some delicate removal of the organic material would reveal and restore the artist's intentions for the work.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<br />David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-91632130805155016702017-03-05T04:09:00.002-08:002017-03-05T04:09:19.061-08:00Tarn Hows<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwM4p3MQhOzSyQcAR5YLabbVqXZdo6uPW2Yg0s6FJOk8t0KIA8iOdzH42EjPLvoUUjLWVYilihIC11kJ0xmNVhm_dWNAh5tba6wgNkgyg7q6CWdNVMfWXRnF619wsvi7E4_4rZdSzbeyY/s1600/TarnHows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwM4p3MQhOzSyQcAR5YLabbVqXZdo6uPW2Yg0s6FJOk8t0KIA8iOdzH42EjPLvoUUjLWVYilihIC11kJ0xmNVhm_dWNAh5tba6wgNkgyg7q6CWdNVMfWXRnF619wsvi7E4_4rZdSzbeyY/s320/TarnHows.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div>
This is a pastel drawing from 1986 on a sheet of T. H. Saunders 190gsm watercolour paper (56 x 76 cm.). It was exhibited in 'The Cutting Edge' exhibition at Bolton Museum & Art Gallery (that subsequently toured to Wolverhampton and Lincoln) and is in a private collection. Tarn Hows is a small tarn (mountain lake or pool) not far from Hawkshead, the centre for Grizedale Forest and its arts project. Paul undertook a short residency there in 1981 and the resulting works were made and exhibited in the forest for some years (the extract below from A Sense Of Place - Sculpture in Landscape, Ceolfrith Press No. 73, 1984 shows them in situ). In his commentary Paul talks of revisiting Grizedale over successive autumns following his residency with students from Loughborough College of Art where he taught on the BA (Hons) programme. The drawing above is the fruit of one such expedition. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2o3jMMZllpxQdyPSKKmvZhq0WMKUqNWZerI0oY6HSZrah-5o0RCNtWfxjGMh3B-LmOlc7B0QiIHK2Gn9zNzR_vAcEe6uBhXMUBjbkxZTcBHJZdp0V-BfDiqOK2kZa9zHVpZNyjQjo_bI/s1600/Scan.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2o3jMMZllpxQdyPSKKmvZhq0WMKUqNWZerI0oY6HSZrah-5o0RCNtWfxjGMh3B-LmOlc7B0QiIHK2Gn9zNzR_vAcEe6uBhXMUBjbkxZTcBHJZdp0V-BfDiqOK2kZa9zHVpZNyjQjo_bI/s320/Scan.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
In A Sense Of Place Paul remarks "It is difficult to assess what changes [in his practice] are due to Grizedale Forest. I have visited it each autumn for several days with students, discovering new sculptures and different parts of the Forest. Re-orientating past and current perceptions each visit. The sharply contrasting pace of life and environs leaves an endless series of images and spaces."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-28151134694422839622016-10-09T05:49:00.000-07:002016-10-09T05:49:22.175-07:00Courtyard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI8hz5BLUYVRaWkfbm_tf9GeKpRH36CVEWa47dIwhafj_o23RbcVShLWRzDeR4gkNQVKgrezDQwUdSwE7mEEboD9vZgTDZAp7G4vJ8fE2jPvOlNiaAT9jDIS82N5igGnQGWxn6Xt_g18U/s1600/H-Courtyard-by-Paul-Mason-1200x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI8hz5BLUYVRaWkfbm_tf9GeKpRH36CVEWa47dIwhafj_o23RbcVShLWRzDeR4gkNQVKgrezDQwUdSwE7mEEboD9vZgTDZAp7G4vJ8fE2jPvOlNiaAT9jDIS82N5igGnQGWxn6Xt_g18U/s320/H-Courtyard-by-Paul-Mason-1200x480.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="page" title="Page 1">
<div class="section">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><b>Courtyard</b>, </span>marble, 21 x 26.5 x 2.5 cm.,<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>dates from 1985 and was commissioned by Harlow Council. It sits in the Gibberd Gallery within the Civic Centre. The Essex town also houses Vertex, Mason's first commissioned public work and his first major work Hinge purchased by Sir Frederick Gibberd. It was chosen to celebrate Alan Mead's service to the town as its Treasurer. <span style="background-color: white;">Sir Frederick Gibberd, the town's Master Planner, stimulated the collection and placing of works of contemporary art throughout the town.</span></span><br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-43320582985403895042016-02-12T09:47:00.000-08:002016-02-12T09:47:11.339-08:00Piece for Lakeside<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYnd-NUl-BrBHNaq8Neyjha5WbLkerSPwBY4z87BHYqVK5uHmjCGYdG5ymR2bywM1y33mu_I8TIt55_Jd_U5fGHeOoWs3IUkULee6epXjrNxrEBlX_zPc-_-pmZ24Ic1qiky5op75cWRU/s1600/2015-12-17+13.00.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYnd-NUl-BrBHNaq8Neyjha5WbLkerSPwBY4z87BHYqVK5uHmjCGYdG5ymR2bywM1y33mu_I8TIt55_Jd_U5fGHeOoWs3IUkULee6epXjrNxrEBlX_zPc-_-pmZ24Ic1qiky5op75cWRU/s320/2015-12-17+13.00.56.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
This is a piece made for, and recently re-installed, at the Lakeside Arts Centre at Nottingham University following the extensive tram developments. Its an elegant work in black marble and dates from the period following the artist's relocation from Cheltenham to London following the residency at Gloucester Cathedral. When originally sited next to the small pond at the city side of the Centre the sympathetic mature shrubbery around it shielded it from the busy dual carriageway. At present it is a little more exposed, however the replanting should take care of this as it develops and the work benefits from good views from the passing tram.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkvC_4mC8WiXu9-tmHztPkXEWP2VpVmPiE42NHvF7CaRNoAsqPD67snRYP9JaMn8Y7nUuHG77LslNhg53sfhXnTBkNI4wgamgSwIVKosNC9flhrQII2CQPAXi-ud6n7Cjn27ZDaDE3UQ/s1600/2015-12-17+12.03.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkvC_4mC8WiXu9-tmHztPkXEWP2VpVmPiE42NHvF7CaRNoAsqPD67snRYP9JaMn8Y7nUuHG77LslNhg53sfhXnTBkNI4wgamgSwIVKosNC9flhrQII2CQPAXi-ud6n7Cjn27ZDaDE3UQ/s320/2015-12-17+12.03.07.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Ideally the piece might also benefit from re-gilding though given the age of the work it has stood up to the elements quite well.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-38613260305453809712015-06-27T00:17:00.000-07:002015-06-27T00:17:48.308-07:00Tarpey Sculpture Garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJo_W5aHnu469ByK9HdjZOcqX5ZM3yWzJrcg-bZHFIcgvd8rVantNQlA7Av1hOfQolEMaFzUhIEMfeKpAp5HDlAPJ81QAfPk0nBdciQlQOC14jYEf1t0wGvQwiOW2N7bC8lWaULpFHUAg/s1600/IMG_8089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJo_W5aHnu469ByK9HdjZOcqX5ZM3yWzJrcg-bZHFIcgvd8rVantNQlA7Av1hOfQolEMaFzUhIEMfeKpAp5HDlAPJ81QAfPk0nBdciQlQOC14jYEf1t0wGvQwiOW2N7bC8lWaULpFHUAg/s320/IMG_8089.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Three pieces of Paul's marble sculptures are going on display in the newly created Sculpture Garden at Leicestershire's <span id="goog_2079801208"></span>Tarpey Gallery<span id="goog_2079801209"></span><a href="http://tarpeygallery.com/">http://tarpeygallery.com</a>. The opening of the garden takes place on Saturday 11th July, 2015 from 2 to 6pm. One is from the period of his residency at the Tate St. Ives and two more from the early 2000's in preparation for the exhibition at Quay Arts on the Isle of Wight in 2005.<br />
<br />David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-6838276262573734782013-08-24T09:07:00.001-07:002013-08-24T09:07:14.525-07:00Pages<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrAIpn3ZfTqHZh4Jyq5gULW8ry1mC_KV2pHS44SAf4RdsRmiAOnmsai5reJOAQ1pPMm1vMCYJOrtQvvqHbhyphenhyphennsvMkZKXdMnioGLa03-PiB1DlCVcbiwI5LFmCPouD0vh2qHPbdabeVbw/s1600/Paul-Mason-Books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrAIpn3ZfTqHZh4Jyq5gULW8ry1mC_KV2pHS44SAf4RdsRmiAOnmsai5reJOAQ1pPMm1vMCYJOrtQvvqHbhyphenhyphennsvMkZKXdMnioGLa03-PiB1DlCVcbiwI5LFmCPouD0vh2qHPbdabeVbw/s320/Paul-Mason-Books.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
These five pieces are each entitled 'Pages' and are marble reliefs with lead inserts, each measuring 255 mm by 178 mm.David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-75980545924303920852013-01-02T06:13:00.000-08:002017-03-05T04:11:52.622-08:00Hinge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiumhYK1oWVidH25rliURRFqhOCe9vgmUEb7d1U57A4MYdxBZ_zFRD_dz7lwc0F3RAEEDTwGzls8MkZedsUj96GK4tBtXAYfdd-9pKHBCuLvi5C2H9Zds8ZRNsEaWUqQY9wajwODJDPSLE/s1600/hinge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiumhYK1oWVidH25rliURRFqhOCe9vgmUEb7d1U57A4MYdxBZ_zFRD_dz7lwc0F3RAEEDTwGzls8MkZedsUj96GK4tBtXAYfdd-9pKHBCuLvi5C2H9Zds8ZRNsEaWUqQY9wajwODJDPSLE/s320/hinge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Hinge is a piece sited in the <a href="http://www.thegibberdgarden.co.uk/index.php">Gibberd Garden</a> in Harlow, Essex - established by Sir Frederick Gibberd and continued after his death by his wife Lady Patricia. She, in particular, maintained a relationship with the artist and collected additional pieces alongside those her husband had purchased. Hinge is the largest work in their collection. Carved from Locharbriggs sandstone it measures 60 x 60 x 38 inches.</span>David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-37109841970292407802011-11-09T03:37:00.000-08:002017-03-05T04:12:45.720-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEMbKdUJTYWOxIMrULtHt-sM7uP-X23PgHwOy8deQQaCaErGoA-agwNapYkTZoHxbfLvDH8ewcCc6vLFIZJMQibDPfmIIS_MhjmOZbyXJTJoEUMpQHv7fe9L1qSLCS885Wl-s7Dt4F7r4/s1600/area1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEMbKdUJTYWOxIMrULtHt-sM7uP-X23PgHwOy8deQQaCaErGoA-agwNapYkTZoHxbfLvDH8ewcCc6vLFIZJMQibDPfmIIS_MhjmOZbyXJTJoEUMpQHv7fe9L1qSLCS885Wl-s7Dt4F7r4/s320/area1.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
<br />
Area, Collage & Graphite, 70 x100 (framed), 1997<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Made at a time when the artist was exploring new directions in his work, Area uses the grid form - that previously made an appearance in the early bas-relief marbles. It presages the works that formed the basis of the exhibition 'Division As Structure' that took place at the Bauhaus Archiv in Berlin in 2001. In this work extensive scratching on the surface creates the image and the use of graphite as a wash is introduced.</span>David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-9972275267307466662011-02-13T03:02:00.000-08:002011-02-13T03:20:15.599-08:00Adrift<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3-OxSLO55tqEGDXR0UAm8QN2oxP7pNJsW7aTZ1G9ZMBSMSlRsvd77u-MfRw9W5tTiVSQBtdsSX_DrRAShwk7ZsJRMqwgBA4I9zeQ0_XuhR58Xb8cKosBpxDZnCIUp-utlyQF2MTOr-I/s1600/Adrift.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 338px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3-OxSLO55tqEGDXR0UAm8QN2oxP7pNJsW7aTZ1G9ZMBSMSlRsvd77u-MfRw9W5tTiVSQBtdsSX_DrRAShwk7ZsJRMqwgBA4I9zeQ0_XuhR58Xb8cKosBpxDZnCIUp-utlyQF2MTOr-I/s400/Adrift.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573128137046107170" /></a>Another low bas-relief work from the 1980's. Adrift continues the tradition of utilising found marks and formal tropes occasioned by the use of found pieces of marble.<br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-68840889336885315092010-12-20T05:00:00.000-08:002010-12-20T05:24:20.582-08:00All At Sea<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOm6upmUusuy1shmfvNl7kOON9qvLzLyVOL59jWhS2RqW73-dI7D-ht-VvUMNthbNha2o5CMsG72WOWD6Xw20l07UG2aN34VhY8j0MLKowW9jnEHWMwBIcH5BnNMD02YctpyfNKkIOsY/s1600/all+at+Sea.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOm6upmUusuy1shmfvNl7kOON9qvLzLyVOL59jWhS2RqW73-dI7D-ht-VvUMNthbNha2o5CMsG72WOWD6Xw20l07UG2aN34VhY8j0MLKowW9jnEHWMwBIcH5BnNMD02YctpyfNKkIOsY/s400/all+at+Sea.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552749313720677298" /></a>This piece was exhibited in the exhibition 'The Cutting Edge' - Sculpture 1977 - 87 that opened in Bolton Museum & Art Gallery on 11th April 1987 and subsequently toured to the Usher Gallery, Lincoln and Wolverhampton Art Gallery. It is in the collection of Lady Patricia Gibberd, an early supporter of Mason's work following the commission by her husband , Sir Frederick Gibberd, for Harlow New Town.<div><br /></div><div>The piece utilises a fragment of Carrara Marble, a frequent decision to exploit the naturally occurring shape of the material within which a dynamic formal construction emerges. Like many works from this period the forms are in part determined by the internal relationships between them with just the suggestion of externally arrived at characteristics. This ambiguity of form and subsequent meaning is often found in much of work of the artist. Equally evident is the delight in the interplay between the surface finishes, the rough chisel marked with that of the flat polished. It is also an early example of the occasional introduction of other material, paint and lead, that crops up sporadically in work over the years. The sculpture is approximately 14" high.</div>David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-88760247717458619252010-10-21T07:02:00.000-07:002010-10-21T07:18:44.450-07:00Drawings<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNsYixR_zb6LScblaTar1AKmTVnvqWWYU8mWLlM6Amts8JAnScK7P8gvw5Rryybf0Abrak9Kr-y0bdxHvx5eS5Dv0iX99baqPEf5BeYIe0DHubmQQnRi0mL7M_2ZrWzPLgktWAcJBVdak/s1600/Drawing01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 278px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNsYixR_zb6LScblaTar1AKmTVnvqWWYU8mWLlM6Amts8JAnScK7P8gvw5Rryybf0Abrak9Kr-y0bdxHvx5eS5Dv0iX99baqPEf5BeYIe0DHubmQQnRi0mL7M_2ZrWzPLgktWAcJBVdak/s400/Drawing01.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530501694105349218" /></a><br />Paul Mason was a prolific draughtsman - not for the sculptures themselves (such drawings are few and infrequent other than occasionally for public art works) but more as a practice in its own right. In the 00's this practice took on a major role with a great deal of resulting work, some on a relatively large scale. Indeed the number and variety of works is such that identifying them all as regards titles and/or dates is difficult. <div><br /></div><div>This is one such work - it measures 99 x 68.5 cms and is drawn in charcoal. It deploys <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frottage_(art)">frottage</a> to convey part of the surface texture and uses a wild and relatively uncontrolled range of marks to suggest a whirling vortex. The imagery is such that it might date from the period 2000 to 2001 when Mason was Artist In Residence at Gloucester Cathedral - it bears resemblance to the sculpture <b><i>Root</i></b>.</div>David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-917628398560029672010-10-17T09:17:00.000-07:002010-10-17T09:30:57.893-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQx-_aNJNaFY49Khk5c2t5jj1ZQm0MMFdfg4g-Mo1hS46EwRXFvhGuxEGhtsb7GR-f76EAl2GDV2d2Go9PDkzvS0e1EXo-deOUVB3QV7UkakKP9ZKVbjSpoqPNuVIs5TD_p_GNsDWgLww/s1600/Harbour1983.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 340px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQx-_aNJNaFY49Khk5c2t5jj1ZQm0MMFdfg4g-Mo1hS46EwRXFvhGuxEGhtsb7GR-f76EAl2GDV2d2Go9PDkzvS0e1EXo-deOUVB3QV7UkakKP9ZKVbjSpoqPNuVIs5TD_p_GNsDWgLww/s400/Harbour1983.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529050589695622322" /></a><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Harbour</span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, 1983 is a small landscape based relief, some 7" in height. In the essay of the catalogue for the exhibition 'The Cutting Edge' (Bolton Museum & Gallery and touring, 1987) Peter Wheeler said</span> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(it) is a small and spontaneous looking piece. Its size and apparent rapidity of execution contradict conventional notions of carved sculpture as difficult and long-winded. For Mason, working against inherited ideas either of technique or purpose and expectations of stone, is a way of remaining alive to its potential, and extending its language.</span></div>David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-16786801458670403202010-10-03T06:20:00.000-07:002010-10-05T00:12:45.288-07:00The Internal Sea<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgcTohxh-_inJMUDVZt1dhevZFQ1c6x9vERRzhQ-NgD3qPmCN75DlNL6VoV3waWCVu-un-tVFJ0D-4oX4vRNV8gWGJaVw2BPyvuaWxqs5wbw-O1h1NJ2GyrDsgqeeOwj8ihNvTTxu50Q/s1600/Internal+Sea+1996.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 247px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgcTohxh-_inJMUDVZt1dhevZFQ1c6x9vERRzhQ-NgD3qPmCN75DlNL6VoV3waWCVu-un-tVFJ0D-4oX4vRNV8gWGJaVw2BPyvuaWxqs5wbw-O1h1NJ2GyrDsgqeeOwj8ihNvTTxu50Q/s400/Internal+Sea+1996.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523811740742546098" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This piece, </span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">'The Internal Sea'</span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, (1996, limestone, pigment) was shown in the entrance alcove at Tate St. Ives during the residency exhibition in 1996. The artist said of the work that it</span><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">is a return to the metaphysical nature of being the physical self possessing infinite capacity for feeling and expression within the very specific limits of our bodily frame. The blue broken surface, suggesting an interior quite different to what is expected, at the same time itself such an obvious "surface" is full of paradox, irony and contradiction.</span><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-9899971160460369822010-10-01T17:11:00.000-07:002010-10-21T07:19:37.404-07:00Artist's Project - Tate St. Ives/Barbara Hepworth Museum<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiny8UHpke2FqOum3UI7dEzvcPkoXhF-W1cm-HzUVSvbOOMQ9B-tBhOF2WXYhnBxk0rxl0Utkrmw1e1l1nOEgG18DI8GCF3R6e9AAQhK_seK1pPMQmIX8C6m8hLkWu2X5AsDMVojkG7Qvc/s1600/IMG_0002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 262px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiny8UHpke2FqOum3UI7dEzvcPkoXhF-W1cm-HzUVSvbOOMQ9B-tBhOF2WXYhnBxk0rxl0Utkrmw1e1l1nOEgG18DI8GCF3R6e9AAQhK_seK1pPMQmIX8C6m8hLkWu2X5AsDMVojkG7Qvc/s400/IMG_0002.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523240284473089426" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Between May and September 1996 Paul was invited to exhibit a series of sculptures, drawings and a 'didactic display' at </span><a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/stives/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Tate St. Ives</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. The published brochure explains that</span><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">At the heart of the project was an invitation to Paul Mason to also make a new carving from uncut stone remaining in </span><a href="http://www.barbarahepworth.org.uk/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Barbara Hepworth</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">'s studio. As with a previous project with the sculptor </span><a href="http://www.peterrandall-page.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Peter Randall-Page</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, this element of the project was made possible by the generosity of the Trustees of the Barbara Hepworth Estate and the artist's family, who make available this stone.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>He was extremely grateful for the opportunity to work this piece of stone - and even more excited by the opportunity to do so in the small garage studio opposite the entrance to the home of the artist. Paul wrote of the experience</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It was not intimidating to work on this piece of marble in the sense that it was once Hepworth's. However the proportions of the block are 4' 6" by 18" by 12", and so I felt as though it was ordered for a particular purpose. I know when I am ordering marble, if you are ordering a solid block you try and get it as cheaply as you can, to get the maximum out of the order. Often blocks are evenlu proportioned. These distinct proportions made me think that she either ordered blocks for specific pieces or she regularly ordered blocks that size. This definitely had, for example, a front and back. It had distinct axes. I was conscious of these being her decisions.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Amongst the works was an installation entitled <b><i>Strata</i></b>, shown above, of which the artist wrote</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The courtyard installation Strata which is three pitched slabs of granite balanced on white marble chippings with molten lead poured into incised lines, is on one level a formal response to the classicism of the architecture and space itself providing a counterpoint in its brutal, physical shaping, as well as combining the granite - igneous, fire formed - with marble - heat and pressure formed, originally laid down on the ocean floor as eroded sedimentary material.</span></div><div><br /></div>David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-88461462870623399142010-10-01T16:35:00.000-07:002010-10-05T00:16:26.864-07:00National Stone Centre<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3hGhyphenhyphenbhagAHBIy5azlmE2-5ALk1xRmXQ3Rh7cZFvIFR6J___bHxzGUeoHrpzwdmN7Ias-p1kwPUMjsaBIKU6achVAIHMSS2bcqi05lfOItqXoI7uCvWeb7yRkzlKI1e52uY31yhaJf-0/s1600/IMG_0011.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 324px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3hGhyphenhyphenbhagAHBIy5azlmE2-5ALk1xRmXQ3Rh7cZFvIFR6J___bHxzGUeoHrpzwdmN7Ias-p1kwPUMjsaBIKU6achVAIHMSS2bcqi05lfOItqXoI7uCvWeb7yRkzlKI1e52uY31yhaJf-0/s400/IMG_0011.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523225773607004274" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This work - </span><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Landle</span></b></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, from 1989, carved from Ancaster Limestone (29cms high) was featured in an exhibition that Paul curated for the opening of the National Stone Centre, Ravenstor Road, Wirksworth, Derbyshire initiated by East Midlands Arts in 1989. It was a part of a short period of residency by the artist at the Centre. In the small publication that accompanied the exhibition Paul wrote:</span><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When I was a student at Wolverhampton Poly in 1971, I collected some stone from the small quarry of Ancaster in Lincolnshire. I left the main road and headed across a field towards a spinney of trees. I drove down a winding, narrow, heavily rutted track which eventually opened out to reveal a broad golden wall, the land mass laid bare, earth and soil stripped back, the ranks of regimented drill marks standing to attention in the early sun.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This short statement in turn revealed that the artist's (as I wrote in the introduction to the publication) </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">professional reputation and career is rooted in the use of stone, but he is also a passionate enthusiast for stone as a material in any context.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Alongside Paul's work he selected other pieces by Christine Angus, Michael Farrell, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-george-kennethson-1569251.html">George Kennethson</a>, <a href="http://www.staffs.ac.uk/staff/profiles/ll1.jsp">Liz Lemon</a>, John Paddison, and <a href="http://www.richardperrysculpture.com/">Richard Perry</a>. In addition specially commissioned photographs of the topology of the centre were shown by <a href="http://www.odedshimshon.com/">Oded Shimshon</a>.</span></div>David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-19874946662773743582010-10-01T16:20:00.000-07:002010-10-05T00:15:03.589-07:00Stone Landscapes - A Geometry of Fracture<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYUlLAmZpeHSPj94QC7xm5nwOvKDtJl8IxILh5e-MPWi8hp3Iafoxx2uE1WTKKyBkFq9axQb8jRJkuQNGwtjF87l8i7GL8T8kaLX3ByjzNzBD71plYy-vqMNiyuFQof_ctm3sM9JTg0b0/s1600/Wrapped+Earth+1996.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 223px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYUlLAmZpeHSPj94QC7xm5nwOvKDtJl8IxILh5e-MPWi8hp3Iafoxx2uE1WTKKyBkFq9axQb8jRJkuQNGwtjF87l8i7GL8T8kaLX3ByjzNzBD71plYy-vqMNiyuFQof_ctm3sM9JTg0b0/s400/Wrapped+Earth+1996.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523224138702402738" /></a><br />This exhibition took place at the <a href="http://www.quayarts.org/">Quay Arts Centre</a>, Isle of Wight in the summer of 2005. In my introduction to the catalogue <i>'The Fruit That Grows In Man'</i> I wrote:<div><br /></div><div><p class="style6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In the first place there is something noble about bringing nature indoors, or of using it as a principle by which to structure an interior space; as an artistic engagement with the natural "order of things". In the second there is the sense of place, or more accurately places. For Paul Mason has been traveling again; Hoy, Malham Cove in Yorkshire, here in the Isle of Wight. Such travels open up places in his eyes and then ours, Malham Cove is a huge curving amphitheatre shaped cliff formation of limestone rock with a vertical face about 260 feet high. The top of the cove is a large area of deeply eroded limestone pavement, of a strange pattern rarely seen in England. No direct reference to this in the works but so many rich and pointed associations. </span></p> <p class="style6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In this new work one is immediately struck by the close resemblance between the handmade marks and the depictions of leaves and branches, rocks and grains of sand, suggesting that there is a symmetrical relationship between nature and those who seek to order and shape it. And an imperfection here or there, for it is these that make perfect our imperfect view. The artist speaks of the 'binocular vision', how touch trades punches with what is visual. Not only on this occasion in stone sculptures, but in paintings, drawings, torn paper collage and wood relief too. </span></p> <p class="style6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Whether in an Enlightened or a Romantic spirit, perhaps after Ruskin and following Stokes, every effort to order the natural environment is an act of deciphering, of a close and attentive reading. The work of Paul Mason offers a kind of second-order reading, a reading of the way we read nature. It's as simple and as complicated as that. The things that stand in the artist's study or decorate his walls are the things that evade his attempts at categorization. The rest is an uncharted wilderness. </span></p><p class="style6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Jean Arp, a constant source of inspiration for Mason, insisted that his sculpture was 'concrete' rather than 'abstract', since it occupied space, and that art was a natural generation of form: 'a fruit that grows in man', as he put it. How apt.</span></p><p class="style6">The work illustrated is a small marble work from 1996 entitled <i>'Wrapped Earth'</i>.</p></div>David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-40792193923284057602010-10-01T16:07:00.000-07:002010-10-01T16:20:05.583-07:00Obituary<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-Kj2-2yb7HpjyVxCcH9FDGaNbhtIudHgnCtgnu7hbqqQcHJY53mPh4t-6wdjrKgtae00CUgy7NuHzmvTqUHi2X1RlC-C30dl9z7DeSj1T9duT54ufKmh6HdXmUI7v055ZVk_6YXJQoY/s1600/PICT0001.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-Kj2-2yb7HpjyVxCcH9FDGaNbhtIudHgnCtgnu7hbqqQcHJY53mPh4t-6wdjrKgtae00CUgy7NuHzmvTqUHi2X1RlC-C30dl9z7DeSj1T9duT54ufKmh6HdXmUI7v055ZVk_6YXJQoY/s400/PICT0001.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523220362465760482" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The following obituary (written by the author of this blog) gives a brief further introduction to Paul's life and activities. It appeared in </span><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/paul-mason-478766.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Independent</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> on Friday 19th May 2006.</span><div><br /></div><div><p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Paul William Mason, sculptor: born Bolton, Lancashire 23 June 1952; Professor of Sculpture, Derby University 2004-06; married first Susan Disley (one son; marriage dissolved), second Emma Talbot (two sons); died London 9 May 2006. In a generation of distinguished British sculptors, following on in the tradition of Henry Moore, Paul Mason stood out for his continuing adherence to the traditions of stone carving in a manner that Moore would certainly have approved of, not only with regard to form, but also meaning and context.</span></p> <p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Mason, born in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1952, studied under a number of Royal Academicians; John "Paddy" Paddison at Wolverhampton Polytechnic and Willi Soukop in the Academy Schools themselves stand out.</span></p><p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">An early break in his career came with a commission from Sir Freddie Gibberd - Hinge (1977) was a 5ft piece in red sandstone, to be sited outdoors in Harlow New Town, where Mason first found himself in the company of major post-war figures in the medium, and this founded a line of enquiry on which much of his reputation is based. Public commissions in Leeds, Nottingham, Southampton, Edinburgh, and, most notably, in 1985, for Centenary Square in Sheffield, followed; the last was a complete scheme in which Mason was lead artist, a pattern of working which has been copied widely in such projects across the UK.</span></p><p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In 1985, Mason undertook "The Cutting Edge", a major solo exhibition of sculpture and associated drawings - a second strand of activity that formed an important part of his output - that toured from his home town to Wolverhampton and Lincoln. In 1996, during a residency at the Tate St Ives, he was awarded a singular accolade: he was invited to utilise Barbara Hepworth's studio and carve a piece of stone from it that formed a centrepiece in an exhibition, "Paul Mason: new sculpture for Tate St Ives".</span></p><p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">More recently, in 2000-01, he undertook a year-long residency in Gloucester Cathedral and the carvings that resulted were extremely sensitive responses to the spirituality of the surroundings. At around the same time he exhibited drawings in the Bauhaus Archiv in Berlin in and in some of these works, amongst his most experimental, can be found new ideas and approaches to his thinking about form and structure.</span></p><p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">His last exhibition, "Stone Landscapes - a geometry of fracture" was in May 2005 at Quay Arts, in Newport, Isle of Wight. In his own notes, Mason said:</span></p><p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My works attempt to recognise and emulate the natural forces inherent in both carving and the geology. There is something deeply attractive and satisfying about the sculptural processes on both scales, and the dialogue between them that occurs quite naturally within the fragment and the whole.</span></p><p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Mason continued to produce significant outdoor works in both traditional settings, at Seaham Promenade in Co Durham for example, in 1998, as well as smaller-scale and more intimate works, such as the series of carvings for the River Yar on the Isle of Wight in 2001. In all these projects he focused on simple, natural forms, investing them with fresh insights and configurations. Throughout his career, his abiding passions for stone, landscape and history informed all his works and, as Professor Peter Wheeler remarked in his catalogue introduction to the exhibition "Root and Cause" (2002), the outcome of his Gloucester residency,</span></p><p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">for Mason, his sculpture is the product of natural intentionality, that is not opposed to human intentionality, it does not contradict nature's formativity, but rather extends it.</span></p><p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A generous artist and an inspirational teacher, he taught at the art schools in Loughborough, Staffordshire, Northumbria and Derby, working in and more recently running departments in which innovation went hand in hand with an understanding of tradition and history. In recognition of his contribution, he was awarded the title of Professor of Sculpture at Derby University in 2004.</span></p><p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Both as artist and teacher, Paul Mason demonstrated an unswerving respect for the primacy of the creative act and, in many of his projects he encouraged and supported others to invest their creativity with a similar passion. This manifested itself in workshops with the visually handicapped as well as working with schoolchildren on associated activities related to his public art projects for which there are lasting legacies throughout the UK.</span></p><p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">He is survived by his wife, Emma Talbot, herself a distinguished painter, and two young sons Zachary and Daniel, and by his son, Joseph, from his earlier marriage to the ceramicist Susan Disley.</span></p><p class="font-null"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The image shown above is of a small tribute exhibition of work by Paul put together by colleagues and students to accompany the University of Derby BA (Hons) Fine Art exhibition in June 2006.</span></p></div>David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306011582397605201.post-56174739197214041912010-10-01T11:00:00.000-07:002019-05-15T05:20:35.912-07:00Introduction<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZo6nZTD6-q9Wy4ENi3gErTwzvDgNB1G9-lJ4ejvQd9eA7QExGqQ9bOcNs353lYFHkuMY6BjGwA0QF1E1HDcAg6Ytm6oLYaBWkKUjURDXOk_E7PVZRlwjt0CCiVrwKmGakONCbviHR5E/s1600/Mason.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523140452200384146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZo6nZTD6-q9Wy4ENi3gErTwzvDgNB1G9-lJ4ejvQd9eA7QExGqQ9bOcNs353lYFHkuMY6BjGwA0QF1E1HDcAg6Ytm6oLYaBWkKUjURDXOk_E7PVZRlwjt0CCiVrwKmGakONCbviHR5E/s400/Mason.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 286px;" /></a><br />
This is a site devoted to the collection and dissemination of material related to the life and work of the sculptor, <b>Paul William Mason</b> (1952 - 2006). Perhaps best known for his public works of which <b><i>Leafstem</i></b>, pictured above, is a notable early example this site is intended to collect together the majority of his works over a career that began in the 1970's and continued until his untimely death and covered a wide range of sculptures, drawings and other media. Leafstem was commissioned by Nottingham City and County Councils under the direction of the City's farsighted Director of Technical Services, John Haslam in the early 1980's.David Manleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06742656331414831764noreply@blogger.com0