Alex Chinneck MRSS (born 1 October 1984) is a British sculptor known for creating temporary public artworks.

Early life

Alex was educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowment, endowments le ...

, where his father taught PE. He had ambitions to become a

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, having captained his school team at county level, before his interest in art at the age of 16. He studied painting at

Chelsea College of Arts Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher educati ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, and became a Member of the

Royal Society of Sculptors The Royal Society of Sculptors is a British charity established in 1905 which promotes excellence in the art and practice of sculpture. Its headquarters are a centre for contemporary sculpture on Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London. It ...

Career

Shortly after college, he was granted a

Gilbert Bayes Gilbert William Bayes (4 April 1872 – 10 July 1953) was an English sculptor. His art works varied in scale from medals to large architectural clocks, monuments and equestrian statues and he was also a designer of some note, creating chess piec ...

award by the

to help in his transition to professional practice, following which he collaborated with

Conrad Shawcross Conrad Hartley Pelham Shawcross (born 26 April 1977) is a British artist specializing in mechanical sculptures based on philosophical and scientific ideas. Shawcross is the youngest living member of the Royal Academy of Arts. Early life Born i ...

on his work. After initially focusing on small sculptures, influenced by ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

'' designed by

Rachel Whiteread Dame Rachel Whiteread (born 20 April 1963) is an English artist who primarily produces sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She was the first woman to win the annual Turner Prize in 1993. Whiteread was one of the Young British Ar ...

and the work of Richard Wilson, Chinneck started working on large scale designs. Most of Chinneck's earliest public artworks were realised across

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. His early works include ''Telling the Truth Through False Teeth'' (2012), where the artist used 1,248 pieces of glass to create 312 identically smashed windows across the derelict facade of a factory in Hackney, ''From the Knees of my Nose to the Belly of my Toes'' (2013) in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

where Chinneck created the illusion that the entire facade of house had slid into the garden, and ''Under the Weather but Over the Moon'' (2013), a commercial property situated on

Blackfriars Road Blackfriars Road is a road in Southwark, SE1. It runs between St George's Circus at the southern end and Blackfriars Bridge over the River Thames at the northern end, leading to the City of London. Halfway up on the west side is Southwark Und ...

created to look as if it had become completely inverted. For his work in Hackney, local residents have described Chinneck as the "

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams ...

of Glass". Subsequent works include ''Take my Lightning but Don't Steal my Thunder'' (2014), a building located in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

designed to appear as if it floated in the air, and ''A Pound of Flesh for 50p'' (2014), a house on

Southwark Street Southwark Street is a major street in Bankside in the London Borough of Southwark, in London England, just south of the River Thames. It runs between Blackfriars Road to the west and Borough High Street to the east. It also connects the access ...

made from 7,500

paraffin wax Paraffin wax (or petroleum wax) is a soft colorless solid derived from petroleum, coal, or oil shale that consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules containing between 20 and 40 carbon atoms. It is solid at room temperature and begins to m ...

bricks which slowly melted. The installation, ''Pick Yourself Up and Pull Yourself Together'' (2015) saw a

Vauxhall Corsa The Opel Corsa is a supermini car engineered and produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel since 1982. Throughout its existence, it has been sold under a variety of other brands owned by General Motors (most notably Vauxhall, Chevrole ...

suspended upside down in

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

car park. In 2015, Chinneck was commissioned to create one of the flagship projects for

London Design Festival London Design Festival is a citywide design event that takes place over nine days every September across London. It was conceived by Sir John Sorrell and Ben Evans CBE in 2003 and celebrated its 20th edition in September 2022. In an article by ...

Greenwich Peninsula The Greenwich Peninsula is an area of Greenwich in South London, South East London, England. It is bounded on three sides by a loop of the River Thames, Thames, between the Isle of Dogs to the west and Silvertown to the east. To the south is the ...

. Chinneck’s response to the site - an inverted electricity pylon standing 37 metres tall - has been voted among the best public artworks in London. Titled ''A bullet from a shooting star'', the sculpture forms part of

The Line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

, London’s first dedicated public art walk, which also features work by

Anthony Gormley Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; ''Another Pl ...

and

Anish Kapoor Sir Anish Mikhail Kapoor (born 12 March 1954) is a British-Indian sculptor specializing in installation art and conceptual art. Born in Mumbai, Kapoor attended the elite all-boys Indian boarding school The Doon School, before moving to the UK ...

. The artist’s first permanent London landmark was completed in 2017. ''Six pins and half a dozen needles'' (2017) creates the illusion that the front of a building on Fulham Palace Road has been dramatically cracked into two halves. In 2018, Chinneck was commissioned to create a temporary intervention for a development site in Ashford. His installation ''Open to the Public'' created the illusion that the walls of a 1960s office block had been unzipped to reveal the interior. The following year, in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, the artist created the same feat on a larger scale, unzipping the walls and floor of a seemingly historic Milanese building for

Milan Design Week The Milan Furniture Fair ( it, Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano) is a furniture fair held annually in Milan. It is the largest trade fair of its kind in the world. The exhibition showcases the latest in furniture and design from countrie ...

. The installation ''A sprinkle of light and a spoonful of night'' was named by

Dezeen ''Dezeen'' is an online architecture, interiors and design magazine based in London, with offices in Hoxton and also previously in New York City. History ''Dezeen'' was launched in London by Marcus Fairs at the end of November 2006. Its New Yo ...

as one of the top ten art installations of 2019. For his most recent public intervention, ''Alphabetti Spaghetti'' (2019), the artist has tied a series of traditional red pillar post boxes into knots. The artwork appeared overnight in three towns across England. ''The Guardian'' has called Chinneck a "master of architectural illusion". , he won the 33rd GNMH AWARD .

Selected works

*''Telling the Truth Through False Teeth'' (2012) *'' From the Knees of my Nose to the Belly of my Toes'' (2013) *''Under the Weather but Over the Moon'' (2013) *''Take my Lightning but Don't Steal my Thunder'' (2014) *''

A Pound of Flesh for 50p ''A Pound of Flesh for 50p'', also known as ''Melting House'', was a temporary outdoor sculpture by artist Alex Chinneck, located in London, England. Part of the city's Merge Festival, the two-story house sculpture was constructed from 8,000 para ...

'' (2014) *''Pick Yourself Up and Pull Yourself Together'' (2015) *''A Bullet from a Shooting Star'' (2015) *''Six pins and half a dozen needles'' (2017) *''Open to the public'' (2018) *''A sprinkle of light and a spoonful of night'' (2019) *''Alphabetti Spaghetti'' (2019)

Gallery

File:From the knees of my nose to the belly of my toes.jpg, ''From the knees of my nose to the belly of my toes'' File:Under the weather but over the moon.jpg, ''Under the weather but over the moon'' File:Alex Chinneck - A bullet from a shooting star - 2016-04-17.jpg, A bullet from a shooting star 2015 File:A pound of flesh for 50p (The Melting House) (15617759019).jpg, A pound of flesh for 50p (The Melting House) File:Alex Chinneck - Straight jacket star jumps - 2017-10-27.jpg, Straight jacket star jumps File:"Alex Chinneck" Art sculpture in West London (40563285451).jpg, Art sculpture in West London File:Alphabetti Spaghetti sculpture by Alex Chinneck - Canning Town, London.jpg, ''Alphabetti Spaghetti'' in Canning Town, London

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chinneck, Alex British male sculptors 21st-century British sculptors People educated at Bedford Modern School 1984 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts 21st-century British male artists