David Macilwaine At Clifton Nurseries April To September 2009

DAVID MACILWAINE AT CLIFTON NURSERIES
ON SHOW APRIL-SEPTEMBER 2009

“What I look to achieve in my work is wit, energy and romance.” Thus sculptor David MacIlwaine sums up his inspiration, as he prepares for a new exhibition, to be held from April-September 2009 at Clifton Nurseries, Little Venice, London W9.

The driving force to start creating sculptures came from living near Pietrasanta and Carrara in Italy, arguably the most important centre for producing sculpture in the world. His medium is steel wire, which he chose simply because it was in abundant supply in the surrounding Tuscan vineyards, he could pick it off the vines and wire, he says, provides a line with which one can draw in 3-D. David’s career is instantly recognisable through his work for the River Café (he created the famous logo), the now iconic graphic of David Gilmour playing guitar which was used on the cover of ‘David Gilmour in Concert’ and ‘On an Island’ CDs and candlesticks designed for Liberty.

At Clifton Nurseries 20 pieces will be on show for six months with selected large pieces on display at the canal side garden at Blomfield Road, on the Paddington Basin. London W9. His work immortalises snapshots from life with humour and charm and will include The Saxophonist, The Cricket Player, The Pianist, Walking the Dog and The Diver to name but a few. As David explains, “I try to capture something glimpsed and evoke a magical moment or a person’s charisma. I am especially pleased to be exhibiting at Clifton Nurseries and the canal site as it has enabled me to create a show of both large and small pieces specifically for a garden…. I love displaying them in the open air, which is where I make them. “

All the work exhibited at Clifton Nurseries is for sale, with prices starting at £250 for a small sculpture up to £6,000 for large scale pieces such as the piano, pictured here. The exhibition will remain in place for six months at Clifton and entry is free – bringing pleasure to everyone who might recognise a little of themselves in the work of David MacIlwaine.

Clifton Nurseries
07906 358 923
www.clifton.co.uk

EARLY CAREER STAGES AND INSPIRATION … RETURN TO ITALY

I first began painting whilst working in other jobs, but it didn’t take long for it to become the predominant interest in my life. In 1980, following successful exhibitions in both London and New York, I turned my attention to sculpture. With my wife Rose Gray and our four children we had decamped from London and were living in a beautiful farmhouse in the foothills of the Apennines, about 20 minutes from the coast at Viareggio.

The inspiration to start making sculptures came from living near Pietrasanta and Carrara, arguably the most important centre for producing sculpture in the world. Friends like Barry Flanagan introduced me to the marble workshops and foundries there and I became hooked. Being so close to Florence, Pisa and Lucca I was living amongst the most beautiful renaissance buildings and sculptures – a daily encounter with Michelangelo and Donatello!

ARTISTIC MEDIUM: WHY WIRE IS DRAWING IN 3D…

The medium I chose for my sculpture was rusty steel wire, something which was in plentiful supply as it is used everywhere to support the vines that cover so many hills in Tuscany. The wire is strong, malleable enough to bend by hand and I discovered I could create sculptures by drawing with the wire in 3D space.

Starting with small pieces, I discovered the essential pose of a figure could be captured in the flow of the line of wire. I make things which are recognisable in the sense that you can identify with the character, be it a pianist, a juggler or a person walking their dog. The poses are iconic in the same way an illustration in a children’s book captures your imagination, what Cartier Bresson called a ‘decisive moment’.

After nearly 30 years of working in this way, manipulating the wire has become second nature. Usually, the sculpture is created from a continuous piece of wire and I think it is this which gives the pieces energy and ingenuity. There is continuity in the way the line develops and the empty spaces surrounding it become an indispensable part of describing a character.

ART BRINGING LIFE TO LIFE: THEN AND NOW

Most of the sculptures I make come from a sudden inspiration, something glimpsed which evokes a magical moment or captures a person’s charisma. The technique I’ve developed has led to other applications, most notably the logo for ‘The River Cafe’, the restaurant my wife founded with Ruth Rogers in 1987 and the graphic of David Gilmour playing guitar which he used on his CD ‘David Gilmour in Concert’ and ‘On an Island’.

If I had to summarise what I hope I achieve in my work, it would be wit, energy and romance – maybe a tall order, but not if I remain true to expressing what I see. I enjoy the challenge of working to commission as much as realising the fragments of my own imagination. If I can fulfil a clients’ idea for a sculpture, then I feel I’ve succeeded in creating a shared awareness as well as a thing of beauty and what could be more satisfying for both of us than that.

More recently I have begun to make larger versions of my sculptures which can live outside and I have introduced colour, a liberation which has enabled me to incorporate my love of painting into the sculptures. This scaling up involves using a thicker steel rod which I heat to bend, something which makes me feel like an old fashioned blacksmith with my anvil and acetylene torch working away on the street outside my studio. A large piece involves up to 15 metres of steel rod and the comments from passers-by as I wrestle with this and develop the sculpture is one of the treats of how I work.

Notes on David MacIlwain sculptures

‘David Gilmour in Concert’

A piece I created after seeing David perform a solo show surrounded on stage by his guitars, a set up which reminded me of a circle of wagons drawn up in the wild west. His stance is uniquely recognisable and I guess he felt the same as he put a picture of this on the cover of his CD ‘David Gilmore in Concert’ and got someone to animate it as part of an ad for this on TV.