Richard Deacon

CBE 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 ...

(born 15 August 1949) is a British abstract

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, and a winner of the

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...

. "Turner Prize History: Richard Deacon"

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

. Retrieved 20 February 2008.

Life and work

Deacon was born in

Bangor, Wales Bangor (; ) is a cathedral city and community in Gwynedd, North Wales. It is the oldest city in Wales. Historically part of Caernarfonshire, it had a population of 18,322 in 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics. Landmarks ...

and educated at

Plymouth College Plymouth College is a co-educational independent school in Plymouth, Devon. History The school was established in 1877. In 1896 Plymouth College bought Mannamead School (founded in 1854), and was temporarily known as Plymouth and Mannamead ...

. He then studied at the Somerset College of Art,

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, at St Martin's School of Art,

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 ...

, and at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

, also in London. He left the Royal College in 1977, and went on to study part-time at the

Chelsea School of Art 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 educat ...

. Deacon's first one-person show came in 1978 in Brixton. Deacon's work is abstract, but often alludes to anatomical functions. His works are often constructed from everyday materials such as laminated plywood, and he calls himself a "fabricator" rather than a "sculptor". His early pieces are typically made up of sleek curved forms, with later works sometimes more bulky. Lets Not Be Stupid 1

Deacon's body of work includes small-scale works suitable for showing in art galleries, as well as much larger pieces shown in

sculpture garden A sculpture garden or sculpture park is an outdoor garden or park which includes the presentation of sculpture, usually several permanently sited works in durable materials in landscaped surroundings. A sculpture garden may be private, owned by ...

s and objects made for specific events, such as dance performances. Deacon won the

in 1987 (nominated for his touring show ''For Those Who Have Eyes'') having previously been nominated in 1984. Deacon was made 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 ...

(CBE) in the 1999 New Year Honours List. In 2007, he represented Wales at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. He was one of the five artists shortlisted for the Angel of the South project in January 2008. Tate held a retrospective show of his work in 2014. In 2017, Deacon won the "Ernst Franz Vogelmann-Preis für Skulptur", Heilbronn."Richard Deacon: Ernst Franz Vogelmann-Preis für Skulptur 2017"
Retrieved 10 October 2017 (de). Also in 2017, he was made an Honorary Fellow of th
Arts University Plymouth (formerly Plymouth College of Art

Notes and references

External links

richarddeacon.netRichard Deacon, fabricator and Turner prize winner, gets Tate retrospectiveBiography and images at LA Louver galleryActual exhibitions, works in museums and galleries''Between the Eyes''
Queens Quay,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Ontario {{DEFAULTSORT:Deacon, Richard 1949 births Living people 20th-century British sculptors 20th-century Welsh male artists 21st-century British sculptors 21st-century Welsh male artists Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts Alumni of the Royal College of Art Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art Commanders of the Order of the British Empire École des Beaux-Arts faculty Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin People educated at Plymouth College People from Bangor, Gwynedd Royal Academicians Turner Prize winners Welsh contemporary artists Welsh male sculptors

Life and work

See also

Notes and references

External links