John Davies
John Davies was born in Cheshire in 1946. He studied painting at Hull and Manchester Colleges of Art 1963-67, followed by two years at the Slade School of Art. He was subsequently awarded a sculpture fellowship at Gloucester College of Art. He lives lives and works in Kent and London.
| 1970 | Sainsbury Award |
| 1980 | Artists’ Camp at Kasauli, North India |
| 1995 | Jack Goldhill Award for Sculpture, Royal Academy of Arts, London |
| 1999 | National Portrait Gallery Commission for portrait of Lord Foster |
| 2003 | Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund Commission for portrait of Hans Böcker |
One-Man Exhibitions
| 1972 | Whitechapel Art Gallery, London |
| 1975 | Whitechapel Art Gallery, London |
| 1980 | Marlborough Fine Art, London |
| 1981-82 | Kunstverein, Hamburg; Wilhelm-Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg; Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe |
| 1983 | Ferens Art Gallery, Hull |
| 1984 | Marlborough Fine Art, London |
| 1985 | Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, Norwich |
| 1987 | Prema, Gloucestershire |
| 1989 | Marlborough Gallery, New York |
| 1992 | Marlborough Graphics, London |
| 1993 | Marlborough Fine Art, London |
| 1995 | Centro de Arte Palacio Almundi, Murcia |
| 1996 | Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester |
| 1997 | Marlborough Fine Art, London |
| 1998 | Purdy Hicks Gallery, London |
| 1999 | University Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
| Plymouth Arts Centre | |
| 2002 | Marlborough Graphics, London |
| 2004 | Marlborough Fine Art, London |
| 2004-05 | Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao; Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia |
| 2005 | Marlborough Galería, Madrid |
| Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia | |
| 2006 | Marlborough Graphics (10 May-3 June) |
| Arte Giani, Frankfurt (31 May-30 June) | |
| Galeria Marta Traba, Fundação memorial da América Latina, São Paulo | |
| 2007 | Museu de Arte Contemporânea do Dragão do Mar, Fortaleza, Brazil |
| Castell de Santa Bàrbara, Alicante | |
| Galerie Giani-Leber, Frankfurt | |
| 2009-10 | Marlborough, Barcelona |
| 2012 | Home Sweet Home, Marlborough Barcelona |
| 2017 | My Ghosts, Turner Contemporary, Margate |
Group Exhibitions
| 1973 | 8e Biennale de Paris |
| 1974 | 12 Views of Mankind, MacRobert Centre, University of Stirling, Scotland |
| Critic’s Choice, selected by Marina Vaizey, Arthur Tooth and Sons, London | |
| For the Last Time, Sammlung Ludwig, Neue Galerie, Aachen | |
| British Sculptors Attitudes to Drawing, Sunderland Arts Centre | |
| 1975 | British Exhibition, Art 6 ’75, Schweitzer Mustermesse, Basel |
| Body and Soul, Peter Moores Project 3, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool | |
| 1975-76 | Museum of Drawers, Solothurn Museum, Switzerland ICC, Antwerp |
| Boymans-van-Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam | |
| Israel Museum, Jerusalem | |
| 1976 | Gallery Choice, Edinburgh and Glasgow |
| International Event 1972-1976, Venice Biennale | |
| Drawings of People, Serpentine Gallery, London | |
| 1977 | Documenta VI, Kassel |
| Real Life, Peter Moores Project 4, Liverpool | |
| 1978 | 4th Indian Triennale, New Delhi |
| 1979 | Europaische Realistische Plastik, Kunsthalle, Bremen |
| 3rd Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales | |
| 1980 | The Human Factor: Sculpture made by 10 artists during the 70s, Arts Council Collection touring exhibition |
| 1981 | Bienal de Arte, Medellin, Colombia |
| Szenen der Volkskunst, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart | |
| Drawings and Watercolours by 13 British Artists, Marlborough Fine Art, London | |
| 1981-82 | British Sculpture in the 20th Century, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London |
| 1982 | Aspects of British Art Today, (British Council) Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art and touring exhibition |
| 1984 | The British Show, Art Gallery of New South Wales and touring exhibition |
| The Hard-Won Image, Tate Gallery, London | |
| From the Figure, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham | |
| Sculptors’ Drawings, British Council touring exhibition | |
| Masterpieces of Modern Sculpture, Marlborough Gallery, New York | |
| 1985 | A Singular Vision, Paintings of the Figure by Contemporary British Artists, Arts Council touring exhibition |
| Human Interest, Fifty Years of British Art About People, Cornerhouse, Manchester | |
| 1986-87 | The Foundation Veranneman Invites Marlborough, Foundation Veranneman, Kruishouten, Belgium |
| 1987-88 | Viewpoint, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van Belgie, The British Council, Belgium |
| 1988 | The Face, The Arkansas Art Centre, Arkansas |
| Introducing with Pleasure, Gardner Art Centre, and Arts Council tour | |
| Works on Paper by Contemporary Artists, Marlborough Fine Art, London | |
| 1988-89 | 100 Years of Art in Britain, Leeds City Art Gallery |
| 1995 | Kent Artists, Canterbury City Art Gallery |
| Altars, Canterbury Festival | |
| Tendances de la Sculpture Contemporaine Figurative, Musée de Cambrai | |
| 1997 | Bodyworks, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge |
| Sculpture Park Goodwood | |
| Cheltenham Art Fellows, Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum | |
| Surrealism and After, The Gabrielle Keiller Collection, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh | |
| Drawings, Purdy Hicks Gallery, London | |
| Claude Bernard Gallery, Paris | |
| Pallant House Gallery, Chichester | |
| 1999 | Den Haag Sculptuur, Holland |
| 2000 | Elogio de lo Visible, Galería Marlborough, Madrid, travelling to: Centro Cultural Las Claras, Murcia; Centro Cultural Casa del Cordon, Burgos; Cultural Rioja, Logroňo |
| 2000 | Le Brun, Campbell, Oulton, Davies, Raab Galerie, Berlin |
| Conversation – an exhibition of figurative sculpture, Milton Keynes Gallery | |
| 2002 | Contemporary British Sculpture from Goodwood, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice |
| As it Seems, Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum (drawing exhibition curated by Roy Oxlade and Paul McKee) | |
| 2002-03 | Les Jeux dans l’Art du XXème Siècle, Le Bellevue, Biarritz; Palacio de Montemuzo, La Lonja, Zaragoza |
| 2003 | Taktiken des Ego, Wilhelm-Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg |
| 2004 | European Triennial of Small Scale Sculpture: Renaissance of the Statuette, Gallery of Murska Sobota, Slovenia |
| 2005 | Tate Sculpture: The Human Figure in British Art From Moore to Gormley, Millenium Galleries, Sheffield |
| Dialog Skulptur – Table and Chair, Drawings and Sculptures from the Deutsche Bank Collection, Galerie Kunstforum, Seligenstadt | |
| Escultura y Paisaje, Fundación ASTROC, Castillo de Bendinat de Calvià, Palma, Mallorca (4 Aug.-16 Oct.) | |
| 2006 | Important Mischief: British Sculpture from the 1960s and 70s, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds |
| A Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Graphics, London | |
| 2007 | Gli Amici Pittori di Londra, Galleria Ceribelli, Bergamo |
| 2008 | British Surrealism & Other Realities: The Sherwin Collection, Museum of Modern Art (Mima), Middlesbrough |
| Galerie Giani-Leber, Frankfurt | |
| One Way, One Ticket, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia | |
| 2009 | British Surrealism in Context – A Collector’s Eye, Leeds Art Gallery |
| Frieze, Annely Juda Fine Art, London | |
| This is Sculpture, Tate Liverpool | |
| 2009-10 | Winter Journey, Art Space Gallery, London |
| 2010 | Works from the Tate Collection, Tate St Ives |
| Works on Paper in the IVAM Collection, selected by Barbara Rose, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia | |
| 2011 | A Life in Art: Monika Kinley, Plymouth Arts Centre |
| Beyond The Human Clay, James Hyman Fine Art, London | |
| Obras Maestras del Siglo XX en la Colección del IVAM, Moscow Museum of Modern Art | |
| Accrochage de Groupe, Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris | |
| Summer Show, Marlborough Barcelona | |
| Biennale of Ushuaia, Argentina | |
| United Enemies: The Problem of Sculpture in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds | |
| 2013 | Ego Yo Yo Mío Mío – Critic’s Choice, Juan Bufill, Marlborough Barcelona |
| Ut picture poesis. Correspondencias y Complicidades, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia | |
| Artists Make Faces, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, curated by Monika Kinley | |
| 2014 | British Surrealism Unlocked, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal |
| 2015 | A Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Fine Art, London |
| Sculptures, Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris | |
| Self, Turner Contemporary, Margate | |
| 2016 | The Ingram Collection at the RGCP, Royal College of General Practitioners, London |
| Night in the Museum: Ryan Gander Curates the Arts Council Collection, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery | |
| Hyperrealist Sculpture 1973-2016, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao | |
| 2017 | Gys! Er den levende? Museum for Moderne Kunst, Arken |
| Skin, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull | |
| Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Fine Art, London (2 August-3 September 2017) | |
| Carved, Cast, Constructed, British Sculpture 1951-1991, Stand C8 Frieze Masters, Regent’s Park (5-8 October 2017); Marlborough Fine Art, London (25 October-25 November 2017) | |
| Modern and Contemporary Art II, Galería Marlborough, Barcelona (14 December 2017-5 January 2018) | |
| 2018 | Journeys with The Waste Land, Turner Contemporary, Margate (3 February-7 May 2018) |
| 2019 | Facing Out, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (22 February-2 June 2019) |
| Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Invited artist (10 June-12 August 2019) | |
| 2020 | ABC: The Alphabet of the Bilbao Museum, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao (6 October 2018-6 January 2020) |
| 2021 | Unkempt, Messums, Wiltshire (16 July-12 September 2021) |
| 2022 | The Turner Contemporary Open, Turner Contemporary, Margate (23 October 2021-20 February 2022 |
| Step and Stair, Art Space Gallery, London (3 December 2021-20 January 2022) | |
| Treasures from the Stores, York Art Gallery, York (19 November 2022 – | |
| 2023 | Revealing the Human Form: Sculpture From Leading British Artists, Banbury Museum and Gallery, Banbury, Oxfordshire (1 April-2 July 2023) |
| Revealing the Human Form: Sculpture From Leading British Artists, The Burton Museum, Bideford, Devon (16 July-5 September 2023) | |
| Spirit of Adventure – 40 Key Objects from the Ingram Collection, West Horsley Place, Leatherhead, Surrey (12 August-24 September 2023) | |
| 2024 | Désordres – Collection Antoine de Galbert au Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon (8 March-7 July 2024) |
| An endlessly smooth common continuum – Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM), Valencia (16 May-20 October 2024) | |
| Presence: The Figure in British Postwar and Contemporary Sculpture – Messums West, Wiltshire (6 July-23 September 2024) | |
| Drawing the Unspeakable – curated by David and Liza Dimbleby, Towner Eastbourne (5 October 2024-27 April 2025) |
Bibliography
| 1972 | Marina Vaizey, ‘John Davies’, Arts Review, vol. 24, No. 14 |
| Robert Melville, ‘The Human Condition’, Architectural Review, Vol. 152, No. 907 | |
| Jasia Reichardt, ‘John Davies’, Architectural Design, Vol. XLII, No. 11 | |
| 1974 | William Ferguson, ‘Sculptural Progression’, Times Educational Supplement, 15 April |
| 1975 | Paul Overy, The Times, 25 November |
| 1976 | Catherine Lampert, Studio International, January-February |
| Fenella Crichton, Studio International, February-March | |
| 1977 | Hilary Chapman, ‘New British Sculpture’, Arts Review, January |
| Stern Magazine, June, pp. 33-35 | |
| Edward Lucie-Smith, Art Today, Phaidon | |
| 1979 | ‘John Davies New Drawings’, London Magazine, December-January 1980 |
| 1980 | John Russell-Taylor, ‘Sculptor’s Drawings With a Life of Their Own’, The Times, 24 March |
| Edward Lucie-Smith, Art in the Seventies, Phaidon | |
| John Davies and Nicholas Wadley, Introduction, in John Davies, Recent Sculpture and Drawings, exhibition catalogue, Marlborough Fine Art, London, November-December | |
| 1981 | Nicholas Wadley, ‘The Sculpture of John Davies’, Art International, January -February, Vol. XXIV, No. 5-6, pp. 147-157 |
| Norbert Lynton, Introduction in John Davies, Werke 1970-1980, exhibition catalogue, Kunstverein in Hamburg, August-September | |
| 1982 | ‘John Davies’ Studio’, Studio International, Vol. 195, No. 993/4, pp. 79-85 |
| Michael Peppiatt and Alice Bellony Rewald, Imagination’s Chamber – Artists and their Studios, Little Brown and Co., Boston, p. 221 | |
| Patrick Kinmouth, ‘Watching and Waiting’, Vogue Magazine, September | |
| 1984 | Heidi Bürklin, ‘John Davies’, Art das Kunstmagazin, May, pp. 111-113 |
| ‘John Davies Portfolio’, NWT Nieuw Wereldtydschrift, July, pp. 20-25 | |
| 1985 | Graham Beal, Introduction, in John Davies Sculptures and Drawings 1968-1984, exhibition catalogue, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, Norwich, April-June |
| 1987 | Edward Lucie-Smith, Sculpture Since 1945, Phaidon |
| 1989 | Norbert Lynton, Introduction in John Davies, exhibition catalogue, Marlborough Gallery, New York, April |
| 1993 | Simon Corbin, ‘John Davies’, What’s on in London 7-14 April |
| 1996 | Michael Simpson, ‘This Life and Others’, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, exhibition catalogue Still |
| 1997 | Elizabeth Cowling, Surrealism and After, The Gabrielle Keiller Collection exhibition catalogue, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh |
| Michael Harrison, Introduction in Bodyworks, exhibition catalogue, Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge, January-March | |
| 2004-5 | Andrew Dempsey, Timothy Hyman, Javier Viar, Kosme de Barañano, John Davies, in John Davies, Sculptures and drawings since 1968, exhibition catalogue, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, October 2004-January 2005; Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, March-May 2005 |
| 2004 | J.A. González Carrera, ‘John Davies y el devenir del hombre moderno’, El Correo – Territorios, 13 October |
| F.C.S., ‘Más allá del ‘tempo’ moderno, El Pais, 16 October | |
| Eva Larrauri, ‘Nada es más fascinante que la figura humana’, El Pais, 18 October | |
| J.A. González Carrera, ‘John Davies y el teatro de vivir’, El Correo, 19 October | |
| Eva Larrauri, ‘El escultor John Davies muestra su obsession por la figura Humana en su primera antológica’, El Pais, 19 October | |
| ‘El BBAA acoge el personal mundo de John Davies’, Gara, 19 October | |
| Altzol San Sebastian, ‘El escultor de la figura, el alma y el espíritu humano’, El Mundo, 19 October | |
| Maite Redondo, ‘John Davies El escultor ingles “conversa” con sus figures humanas en la sale BBK del Museo Bilbao’ Deia, 19 October | |
| Alicia Fernández, ‘John Davies, en cuerpo y alma’, ABC- Blanco y Negro, 30 October | |
| Jose Javier Fernández, ‘La condición humana’, Diario Vasco, 26 November | |
| X.Sáenz de Gorbea Zarrabeitia, ‘Inexpresionismo’, Deia, 4 December | |
| 2005 | Victor Zarza, ‘El cuerpo/signo’, Blanco y Negro Cultural, 26 February |
| ‘El IVAM exhbibe la mayor retrospective de Europa sobre la escultura ‘visionaria y excéntrica’ del británico John Davies’, Siglo XXI, El Diario Digital, 10 March | |
| ‘John Davies reinventa la humanidad’, Levante, 11 March | |
| Rafa Marí, ‘John Davies expone en el IVAM su primera antológica en España’, Diario de Valencia, 11 March | |
| Marta Moreira, ‘El IVAM descubre la solitaria humanidad del escultor John Davies’, ABC, 11 March | |
| F.B., ‘John Davies reflectiona sobre la figura humana en sus esculturas’, El País, 11 March | |
| 2009 | Juan Bufill, ‘Primera Muestra de John Davies en Barcelona’, La Vanguardia, 28 November |
| Noèlia Hernández, ‘Un mundo extraño’, La Vanguardia, 16 December | |
| Juan Bufill, ‘Cuatro Cabezas Aislades’, El Dinero, 27 December | |
| 2012 | Josep Lambles, ‘Això no és un espantaocells’, Time Out Barcelona, 15-21 June |
| Juan Bufill, ‘La casa del cuerpo’, La Vanguardia, 24 June | |
| Noélia Hernández, ‘Algo de nosotros mismos’, La Vanguardia, 11 July | |
| N.M., ‘John Davies’, Arte y Parte, August-September , No. 100 | |
| 2013 | Carlos García-Osuna, ‘Plasmando el ego’, La Vanguardia, 8 September |
| 2017 | Fused, ‘The haunting sculptures of John Davies’, fusedmagazine.co.uk, 27 September |
| 2019 | Javier Viar, ‘John Davies: el hombre como ceremonia’, Hijos de la Angustia, Editores Muelle de Uribitarte |
| 2021 | Dr Jon Wood, online catalogue for Step and Stair, artspacegallery.co.uk |
| 2023 | Marcus Harvey, ‘MORE JOHN DAVIES PLEASE’, MASS Sculpture Magazine, Issue 2 |
| 2024 | Belinder Dhanoa, Kasauli Art Centre, 1976-1991, Tulika Books, published in association with Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation, India |
Public Collections
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Arts Council Collection, Hayward Gallery, London
Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
British Council, London
British Museum, London
Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art
Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford
Contemporary Art Society, London
Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund, Berlin
Ferens Art Gallery, Hull City Museums and Gallery
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Fundación Sorigué, Lleida
Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston
Ingram Collection at the Lightbox, Woking
Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia
Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries
Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao
Museum Beelden aan Zee, The Hague
Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
National Portrait Gallery, London
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
Queensland Art Gallery, Melbourne
Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, Norwich
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
Tate Gallery, London
Tokushima Museum, Japan
Ulster Museum, Belfast
University of the Punjab, India
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester
Wigan Art Gallery
Wilhelm-Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
York City Art Gallery