David Begbie

He discovered the properties of his medium as a student in 1977 and developed the idea as a post graduate at the Slade School of Sculpture, University College London.  Begbie continues to be both inspired and challenged by the unlimited and inherent possibilities  of his medium, and has literally invented and developed a unique art form and visual language.  He sets up a paradox by creating from this cold industrial material, delicate, sensual and powerful work that is completely contemporary, but which ultimately is timeless

A global audience has sat up and taken notice of his work and they can be seen in museum collections and public art installations, including the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna of Rome in Italy, Museum Beelden aan Zee in Holland, National Gallery of Canada, National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, Southwark Bridge, London “Figure & Fountain”(1989), Ten Covent Garden, Connaught Rooms, London “Heavenlybodies” (2001), Hotel Linde, Mariaworth Austria “Nuda” (2004).

His sculptures are contemporary archetypal images using figurative physical forms made from steelmesh and stainless steel. Encapsulated within these forms are a series of relationships between male and female, masculinity and femininity, positive and negative, matter and antimatter, light and dark.  Using strategic lighting to create supremely optical compositions of line and form, each transparent sculpture has a greater palpable presence than the space which it occupies. Begbie offers movement whenever there is any shift of light so much so that these pieces can sometimes have an interactive element.

The steelmesh material itself has a strong spiritual quality but is sensitive enough to convey characteristics of physical, emotional, sensual and sexual qualities, all of which can be found in the works which comprise the show.”

He has now found a way to push this technique further. The mesh sculptures are made into flat transparent panels. When light is transmitted through these, the sculptures reconstitute themselves as shadows on the wall. The shadow-images seem so real and three-dimensional we get the impression that we can reach out and embrace them.

Technique

The sculptures are made by hand, they are not, as some people imagine, wrapped around a mould or model or treated with heat.

David Begbie takes a flat sheet of steelmesh, which, when it has no structure, is quite malleable.  He cuts out the basic shape of his idea then he works the mesh with his hands, much as another sculptor would work with clay.  The only technical intervention is when the sculpture has to be welded onto its base.

The shadows created by lighting the sculpture are an integral part of the whole and something which David is conscious of when working in his studio.  He is aware at every stage of the multi-dimensional effect of each artistic decision he makes.

David has been working with steelmesh for over 25 years, and the clean simplicity of the lines belie the years of accumulated technical skill and respect for his medium which make the finished works so successful and beautiful.

Critique of David Begbie's art by Mary Rose Beaumont, 1984: "If one envisages the human form in sculpture one perhaps first thinks of it being carved in marble, since we all still wear what Henry Moore once referred to as 'Greek spectacles'. Alternatively one might reflect on Donatello's 'David' which is arguably the most beautiful sculpture ever made. Or, perhaps nearer to our own time one thinks of Rodin's powerfully modelled figures - and here we are getting closer to what David Begbie is seeking to create: an incomplete portion of the human body, a part which speaks eloquently for the whole. The foregoing examples are of the human body carved or modelled, solid either absorbing or reflecting light. Begbie has explored a further range of possibilities - his figures are transparent, made of wire mesh, modelled painted and galvanised: the light both ripples on the surface and passes right through them. The effect is of a presence that is not quite of this world. It is real, but also surreal."