“Over the years these sculptures have explored transience, permanence, visibility and recognition. A sculpture may be moved, dispersed or carried. Stones can be used as markers of time or distance, or exist as parts of a huge, yet anonymous, sculpture. On a mountain walk a sculpture could be made above the clouds, perhaps in a remote region, bringing an imaginative freedom about how, or where, art can be made in the world”
Richard Long
Richard Long, whose approach to his art sees man not distorting nature but interacting with it at his own pace, is internationally known for his conceptual works, with which he has been experimenting since his youth. The artist’s solitary walks are famous: long walks in the absence of any kind of artificial mediation or human presence in wild places and settings in order to investigate and explore the combination of man and environment. Evidence of these experiences are interventions carried out in situ and then photographed, along with sculptures, maps, texts and drawings made using local materials. The artist draws the primary elements necessary for the creation of his works from time and nature, using such as stone, wood and mud. Moulded by the energy of the sculptor , they adopt simple forms such as circles, lines and ellipses, and remain usable both in a natural context and in museums and art galleries.
Richard Long (Bristol, UK, 1945) lives and works in Bristol. After training at the West of England College of Art in his home city he went on to study at Saint Martin’s School of Art in London (1968). His solo exhibitions include: Rijksmuseum Gardens, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2023); M Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (2021); De Pont Museum, Tilburg, Netherlands (2019); Fondation CAB, Bruxelles, Belgium (2018); Houghton Hall, Norfolk, UK (2017); Arnolfini, Bristol, UK (2015); Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany (2010); Tate Britain, London, UK (2009); Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, UK (2007); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, USA (2006); National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan (1996); Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA (1994); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA (1986). In 1976 he represented Britain at the 37th Venice Biennale and in 1989 was awarded the Turner Prize by the Tate Gallery, London, UK. In 1990 he was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture and in 2001 was elected Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Arts. In 2009 he received the Praemium Imperiale for Sculpture. He was appointed CBE in 2013 and in 2018 was knighted in the Honours List.
www.richardlong.org