Phillip King
Phillip King’s early works of the fifties were generally small and made in clay and plaster, they were described as being of a robust Brutalist and Surrealist nature. In 1962, he started to use fibreglass and colour, and seminal works such as Rosebud, Genghis Khan and Twilight brought King’s work to the attention of the art world in 1963. These gave way to large and small–scale abstract sculpture, which often combined various materials. In the late eighties, King turned to a more figurative way of working, before moving on to make large–scale ceramic vessels using a rough mix of clay and newspaper. During the nineties, King spent long periods working in Japan, learning to make ceramics on a very large scale. In later years, he returned to using colour in his work, covering solid forms with dry pigments and allowing them to drift, making free–formed shapes.
King is an artist of international standing. A teacher throughout his career, he was Professor of Sculpture at the Royal College of Art from 1980–90 and at the Royal Academy Schools from 1990–99. King was awarded the CBE in 1974, and in 1990 was made a Royal Academician and Professor Emeritus at the Royal College …
Phillip King’s early works of the fifties were generally small and made in clay and plaster, they were described as being of a robust Brutalist and Surrealist nature. In 1962, he started to use fibreglass and colour, and seminal works such as Rosebud, Genghis Khan and Twilight brought King’s work to the attention of the art world in 1963. These gave way to large and small–scale abstract sculpture, which often combined various materials. In the late eighties, King turned to a more figurative way of working, before moving on to make large–scale ceramic vessels using a rough mix of clay and newspaper. During the nineties, King spent long periods working in Japan, learning to make ceramics on a very large scale. In later years, he returned to using colour in his work, covering solid forms with dry pigments and allowing them to drift, making free–formed shapes.
King is an artist of international standing. A teacher throughout his career, he was Professor of Sculpture at the Royal College of Art from 1980–90 and at the Royal Academy Schools from 1990–99. King was awarded the CBE in 1974, and in 1990 was made a Royal Academician and Professor Emeritus at the Royal College of Art. In 1999, he was elected President of the Royal Academy, a post that he held until 2004. He represented Britain at the 34th Venice Biennale in 1968 and in 1998 was the first British artist since Henry Moore to be honoured with an exhibition at the Forte di Belvedere in Florence.
Courtesy of CASS Sculpture Foundation
