Born in South Africa, Michael Edward Bolus was an artist and teacher who settled in England in 1957 and studied at St Martin's School of Art from 1958 to 1962, studying under

Anthony Caro Sir Anthony Alfred Caro (8 March 192423 October 2013) was an English abstract sculptor whose work is characterised by assemblages of metal using ' found' industrial objects. His style was of the modernist school, having worked with Henry Moor ...

. After a brief period living in Cape Town he returned to London in 1964 to begin a teaching post at St Martin's and the

Central School of Art and Design The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and ...

. Bolus had his first UK solo exhibition at Waddington Galleries in 1968, which has exhibited a number of his sculptures since then. As a student his earliest work was modelled or sculpted in stone, but Bolus soon abandoned these traditional techniques in favour of working with steel and aluminium, materials that allowed him to explore the notions of balance and the extension of form which had long interested him. For the New Generation show in 1965 he exhibited a series of polychromatic sculptures taking the form of abstract shapes cut out of sheet aluminium, placed flat on the ground or stood on edge. A good example of this group of works is, Bowbend, 1964. In 1966 Bolus took part in the "Primary Structures" exhibition at the

Jewish museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. List of Jewish museums Notable Jewish museums include: *Albania ** Solomon Museum, Berat *Australia ** Jewish Mu ...

in New York. The same year he was given his first one-man show in America at the Kornblee Gallery. In the 1970s his sculpture left the ground, becoming more fragmented and making use of lattice and grid-like constructions that defy gravity, such as Sculpture No. 3, 1973 and Untitled, 1984. Bolus was part of a generation of sculptors inspired by the constructivist work made by Julio González and

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

and continued by David Smith and

. The work of these sculptors rejected the

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

and asserted the work as part of the world rather than separate from it. He studied with David Annesley, Tim Scott, William G. Tucker, Phillip King and

Isaac Witkin Isaac Witkin (10 May 1936 – 23 April 2006) was an internationally renowned modern sculptor born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Witkin entered Saint Martin's School of Art in London in 1957 and studied under Sir Anthony Caro and alongside artis ...

. These Sculptors first attracted widespread attention at the New Generation exhibition in London's

Whitechapel gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fir ...

in 1965. Bolus worked as an assistant to Anthony Caro throughout his career and was regarded highly for his ability to manipulate difficult materials such as Gold and SilverJuly 2016 "Artist Boss: Anthony Caros studio assistants and issues of legacy in British sculpture". By J.Dunseath Coeditor Dr M Wilsher .

Selected exhibitions

Group exhibitions

*2019 Objects of Wonder: British Sculpture 1950 – Present, PalaisPopulaire, Berlin *2017–18 Kaleidoscope: Colour and Sequence in 1960s British Art *2008 New generation revisited: British sculpture from the sixties and seventies, a tribute to

Bryan Robertson Bryan Robertson Order of the British Empire, OBE (1 April 1925 – 18 November 2002) was an English curator and arts manager described by ''Studio International'' as "the greatest Director the Tate Gallery never had". Biography Robertson was born ...

at the Whitechapel – New Art Centre, Salisbury (England) *2005 Metamorphosis: British Art of the Sixties, Museum of Contemporary Art of the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation, Chora Andros, Greece *1999 Centro de Arte Moderna – CAM – Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian Linhas de Sombra – Centro de Arte Moderna – CAM – Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon *1983 Skulptur und Farbe – 4. Bremer Skulpturenausstellung – GAK – Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst e.V. Bremen, Bremen *1979 Contemporary Sculpture from Collection – MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, New York City *1975 The Condition of Sculpture – Hayward Gallery, London (England) *1968 New British Sculpture – Arnolfini, Bristol (England) *1966

Primary Structures Primary Structures: Younger American and British Sculptors was an exhibition presented by the Jewish Museum in New York City from April 27 to June 12, 1966. The show was a survey of recent work in sculpture by artists from the Northeast United Sta ...

: Younger American and British Sculpture – The Jewish Museum of New York City *1965 The New Generation – Whitechapel Gallery – London.

One Man Exhibitions

*South African Association of Art, Cape Town, 1964 *Waddington Galleries, London, 7 Sep 1965 – 2 Oct 1965 *Kornblee Gallery, New York, 1966 *Waddington Galleries, London, March, 1968 *Waddington Galleries, London, 12 January – 7 February 1970 *Waddington Galleries, London, 3–27 March 1971 *Waddington Galleries, London, 30 September – 25 October 1975 *Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 7 Aug 1999 – 24 Oct 1999

Collections

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Museum, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
*The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
Tate Gallery
London * Arts Council, London
National Gallery of Art, Washington
* mumok, Vienna
MoMa
* Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

References

External links

Artists websiteAppreciation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolus, Michael South African artists 1934 births 2013 deaths