Maurice Blik: 'Into the Light' 2012 13 October to 17 November 2012
THIS EXHIBITION HAS NOW CLOSED. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VIEW A SPECIFIC WORK, PLEASE CONTACT THE GALLERY.
'Into the Light' features a comprehensive collection of figurative bronze sculptures from the '80s and '90s, and work which illustrates the artist's transition to lighter patinas in recent years.
Preview: Saturday 13 October, 5.00pm - 7.30pm. For a catalogue and details, please contact the gallery. The gallery will also be open on Sunday 21st October from 2.30 - 5.00pm.
Maurice Blik has exhibited extensively in the UK and throughout the USA where he has been awarded residency by the U.S. Government as 'a person of extraordinary artistic ability'. Born in Amsterdam, Holland in 1939 and having survived Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as a child, Maurice Blik arrived in the UK aged seven with two surviving female members of his family. The ability to come to terms with this and to confront the face of humanity that he had witnessed, stayed silent in him for some forty years until it found a voice in the passionate and exquisite sculpture he began to produce in the late 1980s. He began by making a series of horses' heads - benevolent and noble creatures which possess an energy and a life force that seem just barely harnessed long enough to take their shape in the clay. Later he progressed to more figurative work in which the irrepressible joy of life and the impenetrable shadow of existence are held together in a struggling unity.
The themes of hope, optimism and belief in the future are intrinsic to Maurice Blik's sculpture. His figurative forms emerge to confront the viewer, often with a triumphant and defiant energy that is both startling and inspiring.
Maurice Blik is Past President of the Royal British Society of Sculptors (PPRBS) and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. His extraordinary life story was covered in a feature article in The Times newspaper; 'Igniting the Spark' in 2005.
Selected exhibitions:
Sculpt Gallery - principal artist from 2012; Woburn Abbey 'Artbeat 2012'; Robert Bowman Modern, London (ongoing); Gallery Different, London (selected exhibitions 2011/2012); Masterpiece 2010, London (Robert Bowman Modern) UK; Royal Society of British Sculptors - Solo Exhibition and artist's talk (2008); Hannah Peschar Sculpture Park Surrey UK (2007/8); Blain's Fine Art (now Haunch of Venison) - Solo Exhibition London UK (1999); Pier Walk Sculpture - Invited Artist Chicago USA (1997 & 1998); Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park- Invited Artist Chicago USA (1998); National Trust Open Air Sculpture Exhibition - Invited Artist UK (1998); Royal Academy Summer Exhibition - Invited Artist London UK (1997 & 1998); Museum Masters Collection Manhattan New York USA (1996); World Art Forum Davos Switzerland (1994); Chelsea Harbour '93 Sculpture - Invited Artist UK (1993); Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London UK (1993 & 1991); Cavalier Gallery Greenwich Connecticut USA (1989); Air Gallery Critics' Choice selected by Mary Rose Beaumont UK (1988); Alwin Gallery - Solo Exhibition London UK (1985).
'Into the Light' features a comprehensive collection of figurative bronze sculptures from the '80s and '90s, and work which illustrates the artist's transition to lighter patinas in recent years.
Preview: Saturday 13 October, 5.00pm - 7.30pm. For a catalogue and details, please contact the gallery. The gallery will also be open on Sunday 21st October from 2.30 - 5.00pm.
Maurice Blik has exhibited extensively in the UK and throughout the USA where he has been awarded residency by the U.S. Government as 'a person of extraordinary artistic ability'. Born in Amsterdam, Holland in 1939 and having survived Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as a child, Maurice Blik arrived in the UK aged seven with two surviving female members of his family. The ability to come to terms with this and to confront the face of humanity that he had witnessed, stayed silent in him for some forty years until it found a voice in the passionate and exquisite sculpture he began to produce in the late 1980s. He began by making a series of horses' heads - benevolent and noble creatures which possess an energy and a life force that seem just barely harnessed long enough to take their shape in the clay. Later he progressed to more figurative work in which the irrepressible joy of life and the impenetrable shadow of existence are held together in a struggling unity.
The themes of hope, optimism and belief in the future are intrinsic to Maurice Blik's sculpture. His figurative forms emerge to confront the viewer, often with a triumphant and defiant energy that is both startling and inspiring.
Maurice Blik is Past President of the Royal British Society of Sculptors (PPRBS) and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. His extraordinary life story was covered in a feature article in The Times newspaper; 'Igniting the Spark' in 2005.
Selected exhibitions:
Sculpt Gallery - principal artist from 2012; Woburn Abbey 'Artbeat 2012'; Robert Bowman Modern, London (ongoing); Gallery Different, London (selected exhibitions 2011/2012); Masterpiece 2010, London (Robert Bowman Modern) UK; Royal Society of British Sculptors - Solo Exhibition and artist's talk (2008); Hannah Peschar Sculpture Park Surrey UK (2007/8); Blain's Fine Art (now Haunch of Venison) - Solo Exhibition London UK (1999); Pier Walk Sculpture - Invited Artist Chicago USA (1997 & 1998); Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park- Invited Artist Chicago USA (1998); National Trust Open Air Sculpture Exhibition - Invited Artist UK (1998); Royal Academy Summer Exhibition - Invited Artist London UK (1997 & 1998); Museum Masters Collection Manhattan New York USA (1996); World Art Forum Davos Switzerland (1994); Chelsea Harbour '93 Sculpture - Invited Artist UK (1993); Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London UK (1993 & 1991); Cavalier Gallery Greenwich Connecticut USA (1989); Air Gallery Critics' Choice selected by Mary Rose Beaumont UK (1988); Alwin Gallery - Solo Exhibition London UK (1985).
