Wendy Ann Taylor (born Stamford, Lincolnshire, 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 in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. 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 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'', and, in 1992, her work was profiled in a monograph by Edward Lucie-Smith. 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 o ...

. In 1999, she restored the '' Virginia Quay Settlers Monument'' at Blackwall, London, adding a mariner's astrolabe. In 2005, a major exhibition of her work was held at the Cass Sculpture Foundation 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 Lo ...

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

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 or ...

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 w ...

'', 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 Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

* 1973: ''Timepiece'', St Katharine Docks, London * 1979/80: ''Octo'', Norfolk House,

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

* 1982: ''Essence'', Saxon Court, Milton Keynes * 1983: ''Gazebo'',

Golders Hill Park Golders Hill Park is a formal park in Golders Green, London. It is managed by the City of London Corporation as part of the parkland and commons in and near Hampstead Heath, and is part of the Hampstead Heath Site of Metropolitan Importance fo ...

, 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 Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

, 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 Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that contains a street and public park of the same name. It has no official boundaries but is roughly bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road ...

, London * 2000: ''The Millennium Fountain'', River Walk, Enfield * 2001: ''Voyager'', Wapping High Street * 2003: ''Knowledge'', Library Square,

Queen Mary and Westfield College , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

, London * 2006: ''Sycamore'', sculpture garden at Cass Sculpture Foundation, 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