Richard Deacon Lecture Review

Arts Review

Presented by ICIA University of Bath

Richard Deacon is one of the prominent figures in British sculpture. Having won the Turner Prize in 1987, as well as many other awards, I already respected and appreciated his work. It is the ultimate combination of art, architecture and sculpture. It was therefore a massive privilege to hear him speak about his work at the ICIA’s artist lecture.

Although labelled as a sculptor, Deacon calls himself a fabricator: he is obsessed with construction and materiality. For him, materials are the basis of all sculpture: ‘without materials there is nothing.’  Naturally, he started the lecture with a list of over 100 different materials he had used over the span of his 30+ year career. This included different woods, metals and slightly more unusual materials, even pasta!

Starting with 1977, Deacon covered over 40 different sculptures, taking us on a retrospective tour through his works, mind process and creativity. It was great to understand the process of how he arrives at the sculptures, because as an audience you often only see the finished sculpture. I was interested to find out how Deacon actually works as a sculptor, and found out he is very practical and hands-on. He uses limited drawing and jumps into constructing and manipulating the materials almost immediately. He names his pieces afterwards. The titles sum up his ideas and concerns such as human interaction, relationships between people, communication and the senses, with a particular focus on looking and listening. The titles dealt with clichés and were witty as they give a very literal meaning to the sculpture, some examples being: ‘Fish out of water’ (this piece was awkwardly balanced timber frame) and ‘To those who have ears.’ (An elegant sculpture formed of repeated curves, which were reminiscent of ear like forms)

A particular sculpture that I enjoyed Deacon talking about was ‘Dead leg’ which is a collaborative piece with Matthew Perry. It is a large sculpture, which filled the space it occupied and was made from contorted and twisted timber. As the name prompts, the awkward piece of straight timber is like a leg being dragged behind. The piece reminisces the sensation when feeling is lost to a leg after you sit on it for too long! The wood is very impressively twisted and manipulated and when asked about how he had achieved this complex form, Deacon even said ‘not going to do that again!’

His humorous and humble delivery relaying his work, made me appreciate the labour, originality and intense thought process that he pours into his work. I look forward to seeing what else he goes on to produce, after this great insight into how his sculptures come to life.

You can see Deacon’s latest work here: www.lissongallery.com/artists/richard-deacon

Issy Spence, BSc (hons) Architecture; ICIA Arts Ambassador

Images: 
1. Left to right: Anita and Michael Pennie, Richard Deacon and ICIA Creative Producer Lindsay Hughes
2. Deacon sculpture 'I remember'

ICIA is a contemporary arts organisation, part of the University of Bath. At ICIA students can see new, exciting and thought-provoking art, dance, theatre and music.  All events and classes are heavily subsidised for students and provide opportunities for artists, scholars and students to encounter, debate, challenge and explore contemporary ideas.

www.bath.ac.uk/icia