Wendy Taylor
Octo, Milton Keynes
EducationSt Martin's School of Art
Known forSculpture
MovementModernism
Websitehttp://wendytaylorsculpture.co.uk/

Wendy Ann Taylor CBE (born Stamford, Lincolnshire, 1945) is an English artist and sculptor, specialising in permanent, site-specific commissions. According to her website, she 'was one of the first artists of her generation to “take art out of the galleries and onto the streets”'.[1] Her work typically consists of large sculptures which are displayed to appear carefully balanced.[2]

Early life and education

Wendy Taylor studied from 1963 to 1967 at the Saint Martin's School of Art in London. She gained renown for her many sculptures in the public realm, especially in London.

Career

Timepiece, St Katharine Docks by Tower Bridge

Taylor's abstract sculptures explore themes of equilibrium, materiality and fabrication. She views her artworks as communicative devices.[1]

From 1981 to 1999, Taylor was a Member of the Royal Fine Art Commission which now forms part of the Design Council. From 1986 to 1988, she was design consultant for the Commission for New Towns. In 1988, Taylor was the subject of a documentary on The South Bank Show, and, in 1992, her work was profiled in a monograph by Edward Lucie-Smith.

In the 1988 Birthday Honours, Taylor was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1999, she restored the Virginia Quay Settlers Monument at Blackwall, London,[3] adding a mariner's astrolabe. In 2005, a major exhibition of her work was held at the Cass Sculpture Foundation in Goodwood titled The Seed Series. In 2009, this exhibition travelled to Canary Wharf in London.

Three of her works are Grade II listed structures: the Virginia Quay Settlers Monument,[4] Timepiece in St Katharine Docks, London,[5] and the Octo sculpture and reflecting pool,[6] in Milton Keynes. The Octo is a "continuous strip of stainless steel, 12ft high, forms a sinuous foil to the Miesian purism of Stuart Mosscrop's town office buildings".[7] It is an early example of the Milton Keynes Development Corporation’s public art programme.

Taylor lives and works in London. She is a fellow of the Royal Zoological Society.[2]

The Time Party dispute

In 2019 Taylor was in dispute with The Time Party after the minor pro-Brexit party used an image of Timepiece on their website and on their merchandise. Talking to The Observer, Taylor said "It is not so much about the politics for me, it is about using Timepiece in a way I did not intend. The Time party may say that the image is just a sundial, but it is clearly based on my work.”[8]

Exhibitions

  • Kasmin Gallery, 1966.[9]
  • Exhibited Tier and Column at the British Council exhibition 'British Printmakers 1968–1970'.[10]
  • Sculpture 66, AIA Gallery, London 1966.[11]
  • Axiom Gallery, London, 1970.[1]
  • Angela Flowers Gallery, London, 1972.[1]
  • 24th King's Lynn Festival, Norfolk, 1974.[1]
  • World Trade Centre, London, 1974.[1]
  • Annely Juda Fine Art, London, 1975.[1]
  • Oxford Gallery, Oxford, 1976.[1]
  • Oliver Downing Gallery, Dublin, 1976.[1]
  • Oliver Downing Gallery, Dublin, 1979.[1]
  • 'Building Art- The Process', The Building Centre Gallery, London, 1986.[1]
  • Austin, Desmond & Phipps, London, 1992.[1]
  • 'Art and Engineering', The Osbourne Group, London, 1998.[1]
  • 'The Seed Series', Cass Sculpture Foundation Gallery, London, 2005.[1]
  • 'The Seed Series', Canary Wharf, London, 2009.[1]

Works

Astrolabe on the Virginia Quay Settlers Monument
Jester, Cambridge
Dung Beetles sculpture at London Zoo

Awards

Awards received by Taylor[1]
1964 Walter Neurath Award
1965 Pratt Award
1966 Sainsbury Award
1977 ‘Duias na Riochta’ (Kingdom Prize)

Gold Medal at the Listowel Graphics Exhibition, County Kerry, Eire

1977 Arts Council Award
1978 First Prize Silk-screen, Barcham Green Print Competition
1988 Commander of the British Empire
1989 Fellow of the Zoological Society
1993 Fellow of Queen Mary College, University of London
1994 Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
2002 Civic Trust Partnership Award, Chase Green, Enfield
2004 Building of the Year Award, Architectural Sculpture
2004 Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "About". Wendy Taylor. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Wendy Taylor | Artists | CASS Sculpture Foundation". www.sculpture.org.uk. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  3. ↑ "First Settlers Monument". www.tower-bridge.org.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  4. ↑ Historic England. "Virginia Quay Settlers Monument (Grade II) (1442213)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  5. ↑ Historic England. "Timepiece Sculpture (Grade II) (1391106)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  6. ↑ Historic England. "Octo sculpture and reflecting pool (Grade II) (1432576)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  7. ↑ "Sculpture up front". Art Monthly. No. 43. February 1981. pp. 7–9.
  8. ↑ "'I'm livid,' sculptor says as Brexiters use her sundial artwork". The Guardian. 14 September 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  9. ↑ Wolfram, Eddie. 'An earlier situation and current hard-edge trends', Arts Review, Vol. 18, Issue 3, 19 February 1966, p. 51.
  10. ↑ "British Council exhibition BRITISH PRINTMAKERS 1968–1970". Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  11. ↑ Burland, Cottie, 'Sculpture 66', Arts Review, Vol. 18, Issue 24, 10 December 1966, p. 554.
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