Brian Falconbridge

Brian Falconbridge was awarded professorship whilst Head of Visual Arts at one of the most pre-eminent and influential art institutions in the country, Goldsmiths’ College, before becoming Dean at the then Sir John Cass Department of Art, Media & Design at London Metropolitan University.  He was President of the Royal Society of Sculptors from 2004 to 2009.

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Now entering its sixth decade, Falconbridge's journey as an artist, from early student years, began with work that utilised the transformation of commonplace everyday objects, such as hats, cups and newspapers.  Through the subsequent development of his visual language and imagery, the works reflect an increasingly diverse range of historical and geographical cultural influences.  These include Constructivism, Still Life painting and themes of landscape found within both historic and more modern European traditions.  These influences coalesce with those from Japanese visual and literary culture, including haiku, aesthetics and the cross-cultural.

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Constructivist in approach, Falconbridge’s sculptures in wood and cast bronze use geometrical forms and figurative elements arranged somewhat in the manner of the metaphysical still life.  Though often modest in scale, the sculptures imply an eloquent monumentality, redolent of the sacramental, the contemplative, the unchanging but yet also the imminence of change.   In maintaining the fundamental tenets of sculpture, content is conveyed with a rich simplicity through the physicality of substance, form, mass, weight, and the penetration of space.

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Complementing the sculpture are extensive drawings and works on paper.  These embrace a broad spectrum of scales, from small palm-sized pencil drawings to muralistic installations and polyptych combinations incorporating collage and Japanese ink.  The strict placement of an unfolding repertoire of motifs and imagery collectively illustrate an informative practice, existing symbiotically and in parallel with their sculptural counterparts.