david klein ARBS

2nd – 19th July 2013

THACKERAYGALLERY

EST. 1968

‘Poised’ is a look back at the four themes that have called, fascinated and absorbedme over the past 20 years of carving. Over the last 10 years, I’ve had the goodfortune to collaborate with Sarah and everyone at the Thackeray, this unique andimportant 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 thebalance between what is revealed and what is left behind. These carvings emergeand escape from the stone, yet stay contained within it.

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

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

The last series ‘Heads’ are predominantly male, in contrast to my other work.These monumental pieces have been fed by my interest in portraiture andinfluenced by the African figures I saw in my childhood. The exotic African stonehas given me a lovely freedom to explore the complex and elemental relationshipswe have with facial recognition from our earliest moments.

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

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

David Klein ARBS, 2013

4

contained VI

bath stone

55x26x42cm

6

torso – origin

carrara marble

45x25x20cm

8

contained – war horse

bath stone

55x80x25cm

10

goddess – dance II

portland stone

75x20x20cm

12

torso – counterpoint

sienna white

150x30x30cm

14

goddess – goddess II

carrara marble

42x38x30cm

16

torso – line

bath stone

160x35x35cm

18

flight

cobalt blue african stone

40x70x14cm

20

contained – captive

portland stone

80x60x40cm

22

goddess – earth mother

sand stone

30x25x30cm

24

contained – emergence IV

bath stone

130x60x25cm

26

contained – contemplation II

bath stone

65x30x50cm

28

goddess – dance I

carrara marble

65x13x13cm

30

goddess – dance III

portland stone

90x22x22cm

32

goddess – outcry

carrara marble

45x50x30cm

BIOGRAPHY

David Klein was born in 1962. He started his working life in engineering, duringwhich time he was fortunate to meet the sculptor John Jennings, and later becomehis assistant. This experience led him to make the bold step to further realise hispassion for sculpting, by doing a Fine Art Degree at Staffordshire University, from1992-1994. He continued his studies with a further two years at the Frink Schoolof 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 quarrieswhere he personally sources his materials.

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

David has had five solo shows with Thackeray Gallery. In 2007, he also showedhis work at the V&A Musuem. In 2010, he was elected a member of the RoyalBritish Society of Sculptors (ARBS) and the Society of Portrait Sculptors (SPS). In2010 and 2011, he was invited to exhibit in ‘Face’, Society of Portrait SculptorsShow, Cork Street, London, where he was awarded the ‘Freakley Prize’ forOutstanding 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. Hiswork is filled with life and bursting with energy. He has anchored hisunderstanding in the things that matter and joins the select company of youngsculptors who will make a real difference”.

Martin Jennings FRBS, 2007