Wendy Ann Taylor (born

Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a town and civil parish in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber-framed ...

, 1945) is an English artist and sculptor, specialising in permanent, site-specific commissions. According to her website, she 'was one of the first artists of her generation to “take art out of the galleries and onto the streets”'. Her work typically consists of large sculptures which are displayed to appear carefully balanced.

Early life and education

Wendy Taylor studied from 1963 to 1967 at the

Saint Martin's School of Art Saint Martin's School of Art was an art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's became part of ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. She gained renown for her many sculptures in the public realm, especially in London.

Career

Taylor's abstract sculptures explore themes of equilibrium, materiality and fabrication. She views her artworks as communicative devices. From 1981 to 1999, Taylor was a Member of the

Royal Fine Art Commission The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) was an executive non-departmental public body of the UK government, established in 1999. It was funded by both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for ...

which now forms part of the

Design Council The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the prom ...

. From 1986 to 1988, she was design consultant for the

Commission for New Towns English Partnerships (EP) was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agencies on a regional level. On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successor ...

. In 1988, Taylor was the subject of a documentary on ''

The South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...

'', and, in 1992, her work was profiled in a monograph by

Edward Lucie-Smith John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith (born 27 February 1933), known as Edward Lucie-Smith, is a Jamaican-born English writer, poet, art critic, curator and broadcaster. He has been highly prolific in these fields, writing or editing over a hundred ...

. In the

1988 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supple ...

, Taylor was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. In 1999, she restored the '' Virginia Quay Settlers Monument'' at

Blackwall, London Blackwall is an area of Poplar, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London. The neighbourhood includes Leamouth and the Coldharbour conservation area. The area takes its name from a historic stretch of riverside wall built along a ...

, adding a

mariner's astrolabe The mariner's astrolabe, also called sea astrolabe, was an inclinometer used to determine the latitude of a ship at sea by measuring the sun's noon altitude (declination) or the meridian altitude of a star of known declination. Not an astrolabe ...

. In 2005, a major exhibition of her work was held at the

Cass Sculpture Foundation The Cass Sculpture Foundation was a charitable commissioning body based in Goodwood, Sussex, England. The Foundation's 26-acre grounds were home to an ever-changing display of 80 monumental sculptures, all of which were available for sale with th ...

in Goodwood titled ''The Seed Series''. In 2009, this exhibition travelled to

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lon ...

in London. Three of her works are Grade II listed structures: the ''Virginia Quay Settlers Monument'', ''Timepiece'' in

St Katharine Docks St Katharine Docks is a former dock and now a mixed-used district in Central London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and within the East End. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, immediately downstream of the Tower of London an ...

, London, and the ''Octo'' sculpture and reflecting pool, in Milton Keynes. The ''Octo'' is a "continuous strip of stainless steel, 12ft high, forms a sinuous foil to the

Miesian Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Llo ...

purism of Stuart Mosscrop's town office buildings". It is an early example of the

Milton Keynes Development Corporation Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) was a development corporation operating from 1967 to 1992 oversee the planning and early development of Milton Keynes, a new town midway between London and Birmingham. Establishment MKDC established o ...

’s public art programme. Taylor lives and works in London. She is a fellow of the Royal Zoological Society.

The Time Party dispute

In 2019 Taylor was in dispute with The Time Party after the minor pro-

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

party used an image of ''Timepiece'' on their website and on their merchandise. Talking to ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', Taylor said "It is not so much about the politics for me, it is about using ''Timepiece'' in a way I did not intend. The Time party may say that the image is just a sundial, but it is clearly based on my work.”

Exhibitions

* Kasmin Gallery, 1966. * Exhibited ''Tier'' and ''Column'' at the British Council exhibition 'British Printmakers 1968–1970'. * Sculpture 66, AIA Gallery, London 1966.Burland, Cottie, 'Sculpture 66', ''Arts Review'', Vol. 18, Issue 24, 10 December 1966, p. 554. *Axiom Gallery, London, 1970. *Angela Flowers Gallery, London, 1972. *24th King's Lynn Festival, Norfolk, 1974. *World Trade Centre, London, 1974. * Annely Juda Fine Art, London, 1975. *Oxford Gallery, Oxford, 1976. *Oliver Downing Gallery, Dublin, 1976. *Oliver Downing Gallery, Dublin, 1979. *'Building Art- The Process', The Building Centre Gallery, London, 1986. *Austin, Desmond & Phipps, London, 1992. *'Art and Engineering', The Osbourne Group, London, 1998. *'The Seed Series', Cass Sculpture Foundation Gallery, London, 2005. *'The Seed Series',

, London, 2009.

Works

Dung Beetles Sculpture by Wendy Taylor at the London Zoo

* 1971: ''Triad'', Somerville College, Oxford * 1973: ''Timepiece'',

, London * 1979/80: ''Octo'', Norfolk House, Milton Keynes * 1982: ''Essence'', Saxon Court, Milton Keynes * 1983: ''Gazebo'', Golders Hill Park, London Barnet * 1986: ''Pharos'',

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

South Lanarkshire * 1987: ''Docklands Enterprise'', West Dock/Marsh Lane * 1987: ''Globe Sundial Sculpture'', Marine Walk, Swansea * 1994: ''Jester'', Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and the

Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens The Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens is a collection of 45 pieces of outdoor sculpture at the PepsiCo world headquarters in Purchase, New York. The collection includes work from major modern sculptors including Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Alexan ...

, Purchase, USA * 1997: ''Rope Circle'', Hermitage Basin, London * 1997: ''Spirit of Barrow'' * 1999: ''Dung Beetles'', Millennium Conservation Centre, Regent's Park, London * 1999: ''Virginia Quay Settlers Monument'', Jamestown Way, London (restoration of the 1928 monument) * 2000: '' Tortoises with Triangle and Time'', Holland Park, London * 2000: ''The Millennium Fountain'', River Walk, Enfield * 2001: ''Voyager'',

Wapping Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...

High Street * 2003: ''Knowledge'', Library Square, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London * 2006: ''Sycamore'', sculpture garden at

, Goodwood

Awards

References

External links

Wendy Taylor's webpage

The artist's page at Cass Sculpture Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Wendy English women sculptors Officers of the Order of the British Empire Living people 1945 births People from Stamford, Lincolnshire 21st-century British women artists 21st-century English women 21st-century English people