It’s decision time for Arts4Wokingham, a local charity that is championing art across the borough. Their current project is to commission a major landmark work of art which will be located outside Wokingham’s new culture and leisure complex, The Carnival Hub.
An invitation to artists to pitch for this project received over sixty expressions of interest from all over the world.
Arts4Wokingham has shortlisted just five artists who most successfully met an extensive range of judging criteria. They are a distinguished group with impressive track records. Now, it’s time to scrutinise their proposals and select just one to take the project forward.
The five shortlisted artists will be presenting their ideas to a commissioning panel before the end of January. They will face a number of searching questions and be assessed against a rigorous set of requirements and conditions.
So, who will triumph and leave an indelible and long-lasting signature on the landscape of Wokingham?
We’re offering an insight into the five artists bidding for this work and an example or two of their style captured in commissions they’ve undertaken elsewhere.
If you’d like to comment or express any views there’s a short questionnaire on the Arts4Wokingham website. Just go to www.arts4wokingham.com and click on the Get Involved page.
We’ll be bringing you news of the winning artist as soon as the final decision is made.
NICOLA ANTHONY
A graduate of the University of the Arts, London and Loughborough University, Nicola Anthony is perhaps best known for her metal text sculptures. She collects human testimonies, empowering and transforming them into contemporary art.
From the playful to the heart wrenching, each artwork is shaped by the narrative it contains.
Nicola focuses her research on untold narratives and collective memory.
Her work is frequently informed by poems, proverbs, riddles, curses, confessions,
laments, prayer and prophecies.
Nicola Anthony’s public sculptures can be seen in Ireland, Myanmar, America and Singapore.
JOHN ATKIN
John Atkin can lay claim to a truly international reputation. Since leaving the Royal College of Art in London, where he was personally funded by Henry Moore, he has exhibited his art worldwide.
Apart from the UK, his work can be viewed in Ireland, North America, UAE, Australia and China.
As a public artist his role is in providing solutions for particular spaces, creating places with a special significance that the public can enjoy.
He is especially interested in the interaction of people with artworks that change a space into a place. In this way the community secures a landmark for the area and a meeting point for all generations and cultures.
RICHARD HUDSON
Shown internationally and collected worldwide, Richard Hudson’s sculptures are organic and striking. Best known for his work in polished mirrored steel, bronze and wood, they quickly become landmarks in their own right.
Coming late to sculpture and brought up on a farm, his early influences as a child were stirred by country walks on which he marvelled at the wonders of the world and the complexity of nature.
Richard is keen to capture in his work is the flux, shape and movement of the billions of particles that nature draws together from their unbridled chaos to create pure natural beauty.
GEORGE KING
A graduate of the University of Liverpool and UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture, George King is an award-winning chartered architect who has worked around the world.
As senior architect to Zaha Hadid, he worked on the London 2012 Olympic Aquatic Centre and the FIFA 2022 Quatar World Cup Stadium.
George works within the disciplines of architecture, art, landscaping and design to create unique works that unite these fields. He prides himself on creating works that are elegant, poetic, tactile and experiential.
Key to his approach is finding innovative solutions to challenging sites and briefs.
PETER RANDALL-PAGE
Peter Randall-Page studied sculpture at Bath Academy of Art in the 1970s and now holds no fewer than four honorary doctorates. His work is held in public and private collections throughout the world, including permanent collections at the Tate Gallery and the British Museum.
His work has always been informed and inspired by the study of natural phenomena and its subjective impact on our emotions.
As a member of the design team for the Educational Resource Centre at the Eden Project in Cornwall, he influenced the overall design of the building incorporating an enormous granite sculpture (‘Seed’) at its heart.
