David Klein, July 2013

david klein

ARBS

2nd – 19th July 2013

T H A C K E R AY G A L L E RY E ST. 1968

‘Poised’ is a look back at the four themes that have called, fascinated and absorbed me over the past 20 years of carving. Over the last 10 years, I’ve had the good fortune to collaborate with Sarah and everyone at the Thackeray, this unique and important gallery – indeed, my first solo show was at the Thackeray in July 2003.

My first theme ‘Contained’ is a series of carvings representing my interest in the balance between what is revealed and what is left behind. These carvings emerge and escape from the stone, yet stay contained within it.

The last series ‘Heads’ are predominantly male, in contrast to my other work.

These monumental pieces have been fed by my interest in portraiture and influenced by the African figures I saw in my childhood. The exotic African stone has given me a lovely freedom to explore the complex and elemental relationships we have with facial recognition from our earliest moments.

‘Torsos’ were an early obsession borne out of a number of pot figures I experimented with at the Frink School. Again, leaving much unsaid, they have been an exploration in form, line and proportion which naturally led to the ‘Goddess Series’ – my third theme.

A friend of mine at college said to me “If you hit stone for long enough, it’s got to teach you something” and indeed it has been this dialogue with these very different natural stones – from the delicious marbles to the softer honey-coloured Bath stone that have been such a delight. Whether working closely to the human form or departing from it, the experience is at once intensely enjoyable and deeply engaging. It can seem almost a process of meditation within which a more intuitive and distantly familiar set of rules apply.

This work started with the large bottomed Earth Mother figures from which grew the matriarchs and themes of fertility, romance, dance, movement and formal distortion.

I feel proud to be working within the figurative tradition; it can span times and cultures, connect us with our ancestors and hopefully be intelligible to generations to come.

David Klein ARBS, 2013

contained

VI

bath stone 55x26x42cm

4

torso – origin carrara marble 45x25x20cm

6

contained – war horse bath stone 55x80x25cm

8

goddess – dance

II

portland stone 75x20x20cm

10

torso – counterpoint sienna white 150x30x30cm

12

goddess – goddess

II

carrara marble 42x38x30cm

14

torso – line bath stone 160x35x35cm

16

flight cobalt blue african stone 40x70x14cm

18

contained – captive portland stone 80x60x40cm

20

goddess – earth mother sand stone 30x25x30cm

22

contained – emergence

IV

bath stone 130x60x25cm

24

contained – contemplation

II

bath stone 65x30x50cm

26

goddess – dance

I

carrara marble 65x13x13cm

28

goddess – dance

III

portland stone 90x22x22cm

30

goddess – outcry carrara marble 45x50x30cm

32

BIOGRAPHY David Klein was born in 1962. He started his working life in engineering, during which time he was fortunate to meet the sculptor John Jennings, and later become his assistant. This experience led him to make the bold step to further realise his passion for sculpting, by doing a Fine Art Degree at Staffordshire University, from 1992-1994. He continued his studies with a further two years at the Frink School of Sculpture doing a postgraduate course in figurative sculpting, from 1994-1996.

David now lives and carves on the South Coast of England, close to the quarries where he personally sources his materials.

David says of his work: “Carving limestone is like carving through time, slowly revealing the sedementary layers of this Jurassic rock which was laid down 600 million years ago under the sea”.

David has had five solo shows with Thackeray Gallery. In 2007, he also showed his work at the V&A Musuem. In 2010, he was elected a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors (ARBS) and the Society of Portrait Sculptors (SPS). In 2010 and 2011, he was invited to exhibit in ‘Face’, Society of Portrait Sculptors Show, Cork Street, London, where he was awarded the ‘Freakley Prize’ for Outstanding Portraiture at the Cork Street Show in 2011.

David Klein has been exhibiting with Thackeray Gallery since 2002.

“David’s core belief is in form, and form is the beating heart of sculpture. His work is filled with life and bursting with energy. He has anchored his understanding in the things that matter and joins the select company of young sculptors who will make a real difference”.

Martin Jennings

FRBS,

2007