Rosie Leventon is a British visual artist whose practice encompasses sculpture, installation, land art, drawing and painting. She is known for making sculptural installations that reference current issues as well as the natural environment,prehistoric archaeology and vernacular architecture.

Work and career

Leventon studied Chinese Language & Archaeology from 1974 to 1975 at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

, before completing her bachelor's degree in Fine Art from

Croydon College of Art Croydon College is a large further and higher education college located in Croydon, within the London Borough of Croydon. Its origins can be traced to a School of Art that was established in 1868, which subsequently merged with Croydon Polytechnic ...

1976-1979, followed by a Post Graduate in Advanced Sculpture at Central St Martins School of Art 1980–81. F2 Typhoon Eurofighter

FORWARD-MARCH-a-floating-corridor by Rosie Leventon

A recurring theme running through her artistic practice is that of things that have been lost, hidden, or forgotten. Leventon was commissioned by Stour Valley Arts to make two large earthworks which are situated in Kings Wood in Stour Valley, Kent, and form part of the Stour Valley Sculpture Trail alongside other artworks. Both pieces were shortlisted for the Rouse Kent Award for Public Art and Ring was the winner. Made in 2004, it is a concave circular piece dug out of the land itself, inspired by Anglo-Saxo
barrow fields
and prehistoric

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

found in the local area in Kent. Usually filled with water, it also acts as a water source for deer in the forest. Leventon's second work in Kings Wood made in 2004 is B52, she chose this aircraft because it was the time of the Iraq war and it is such a powerful symbol . Her idea was to subvert the destructive and aggressive power of the aircraft into a living growing piece - it consists of a clearing in the monoculture of coppiced sweet chestnut trees cut into the negative shape of the American bomber . The cleared woodland allows light and biodiversity onto the forest floor. From 2014 Leventon was commissioned by the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland Natural heritage, heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972 ...

to make a permanent Earthwork for the

Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood (initially known as the Flagship Diamond Wood) is a woodland in Leicestershire, UK created in 2012. Covering , it is the centrepiece of a wide-ranging Jubilee Project by the Woodland Trust to mark the 2 ...

s situated in Normanton le Heath, Leicestershire, UK. The form of this artwork responds to local prehistoric archaeology. Taking on the theme of time the work consists of a large corkscrew spiral structure which visitors can interact with by walking along the spiral path into the concave centre, which is surrounded by a ring of Oaks and Wild Service trees and a further ring of bushes selected to be of particular value to birds. Responding to a commission from the Dorset-based arts organisatio
b-side
in 2018 Leventon produced an installation ''Endangered Dust'' for the courtyard of Portland Museum. Part of an ongoing series influenced by vernacular architecture, the form of ''Endangered Dust'' was inspired by prehistoric stone chambers cut into the rock in the

Isle of Portland An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...

known as Beehive Chambers. Leventon's work was constructed from layers of hand cut plywood taking the conical beehive forms as its starting point, lit from the inside. In 2000 she was commissioned to make a piece for the National Maritime Museum responding to the history of HMS Implacable, a Ship of the Line of which only the salvaged stern and figurehead remained. Her piece Absentee is a ghostly re-creation of the ship made from hundreds of pieces of glass. It is now suspended in the Queens House at the side of the museum beside the Turner painting The Fighting Temeraire. It is now at the Museums storage facility at Kidbrooke pending reorganisation of some of the galleries.

Selected exhibitions

UK exhibitions include: If Not Now, When? Generations of Women in Sculpture in Britain 1960-2023, Saatchi Gallery, London, 15 November 2023 to 22 January 2024 In Harmony, Broomhill Sculpture Gardens, Barnstaple, 10 June 2022 to May 2024 Contemporary Sculpture Fulmer, Bucks, open until 29 July 2023 If Not Now, When? Generations of Women Sculptors in Britain, 1960 – 2022, The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, 31 March - 24 September 2023 Royal Society of Sculptors, Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden, North Yorkshire, 3 May - 8 July 2024 Royal Academy Summer exhibition Summer Exhibition, Royal Society of Sculptors, London, 2020 Endangered Dust, Felix & Spear Gallery, London, 2020 Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize. Orchard Place London and touring - 2022-3, 2019 and 2000 BLANK_, University Centre Leeds, ''Ripple of Light'' solo exhibition - 2021 Traces of Traces, Art at Broadgate, London, 2017 Wells Art Contemporary, Wells cathedral.Composition 2. 2019 Lichfield Festival of Visual Art Exhibition. Lichfield Cathedral. 2019 ''Endangered Dust'' 2019( b-side Commission), Portland Museum, Isle of Portland, Dorset, 2018 Atrium Gallery Exchange House, Broadgate Centre, Liverpool St Station London. 2 person show. Angus-Hughes Gallery, London, 2017 ''Centenary Open Exhibition 2013'', The London Group. The Cello Factory, London, 2013 Unfold'', Nettie Horn, London, 2009'' ''Prospects and Interiors: Sculptors' Drawings of Inner Space,'' Henry Moore Institute exhibition, Sculpture Study Galleries, 2008 Undercurrent, Fabrica, Brighton, 2004 ''Excavating the Present,'' Kettles Yard Gallery, Cambridge, 1991 ''Wake'',

Chisenhale Gallery Chisenhale Gallery is a non-profit contemporary art gallery based in London's East End. Background The organisation focuses on a programme of commissioned exhibitions, events, performances and talks. The gallery occupies the ground level of a ...

, London, 1988 ''Forensic Evidence'',

Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Central London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, ...

, London, 1987 International exhibitions include: ''Up the Duff'', Galleria L’Affiche, Milan and La Fortezza del Girifalco, Cortona, Italy, 2017 (touring show with Leandro Lottici) Arte Laguna Prize, Venice, 2016 Brandts Klaedefabrik, Odense, Denmark 1991 Prague Festival of Contemporary Art. Czech Republic.2011 Convergence Arts Festival, Rhode Island USA.2003 ''Views (of the Museum)'', Museo d’Arte Contemporani Barcelona, Spain,1996 Centraline Museum, Lodz Poland. Der Pfalzgalerie, KaisersLautern, Germany 1990

Awards include

2021 Royal Society of Sculptors Spotlight Award. 2020 Felix & Spear Award. Arts Council award via The Woodland Trust, 2012-2013, for Now & Then, a large earthwork sited at the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Woods at Normanton le Heath In Leicestershire. Rouse Kent Award for Public Art. Elephant Trust. British Council. Mark Tanner Award for Sculpture. Henry Moore Sculpture Trust. UJADF ( UK / Japan Art Design & Film ) Winner. Installation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leventon, Rosie Living people 1946 births English contemporary artists