Phil Booth Sculpture, UK and Japan

statement on work

Nature and our relationship to it plays a central role in the conceptualisation behind my work. At times the work may celebrate the lyrical spirit of nature, though at the same time, it may also express certain concerns about this relationship, raising questions, and, perhaps, communicating an anxiety about its deteriorated condition.

Though many of the forms in my work are invented many also have their origins in various observed sources. These are drawn from two very different directions. A great deal are drawn directly from the landscape and are transformed through

a process which refines them and looks for a new and independent life within them. I try to recreate within them a quality which is resonant with nature in a less specific sense. Conversely, the world of industrial forms, structures and materials often informs both the starting point of the works and their process of development. Mathematics and architecture may also provide sources for the basic structures for my work.

So how do these various forms work together? Well, I am interested in exploring the flow of imagery that can occur around the midpoint between

abstraction and figuration. This is the point at which I bring it all together. At this point, meaning is not fixed and interpretation of the work becomes more fluid. There are many layers of possible meaning - some are more clearly stated, others deliberately left undefined. These take on the quality of fractured narratives where connection and allusion play important roles.

Philip Booth
January 2004

phil booth sculpture

home	sculpture	drawings	japanese gardens & landscapes	public art	the artist	commissioning & contact

curriculum vitae

	education	scholarships & awards	teaching posts	major group exhibitions	solo & small group exibitions	site specific & landscape design works	agencies & affiliations	collections

education

	1960-67 Hipperholme Grammar School, Halifax
	1967-68 Hornsey College of Art, London
	1968-71 Manchester College of Art and Design
		BA Hons 2.1 Fine Art – Sculpture 1971
		DA(Manc) Diploma of Associateship 1971
	1971-72 Manchester Polytechnic
		HDA Sculpture (Post Graduate) 1972

scholarships & awards

	1976 Arts Council of Great Britain, Major Award
	1978-80 Japan Scholarship - Japanese Government (Monbusho) Research Scholar
	Research Programme: Survey and analysis of traditional arts of gardens, architecture and festivals, interpreted as environmental sculpture. Saitama University with extensive field work in Kyoto and throughout Japan. Scholarship included intensive language course in Japanese at Osaka University of Foreign Studies.
	1989 South West Arts Award, "Working with Nature" Project, St Ives, Cornwall, UK
	2000 AHRB Grant awarded to pursue invited sculpture residency, Seto, Japan

teaching posts

	1973 - 78 Cheshire School of Art and Design. Course Tutor in Foundation Studies
	1980 Manchester Polytechnic. Lecturer in Sculpture. Degree and Post Graduate
	1981 - 86 Falmouth College of Arts. Lecturer in Foundation Studies
	1986 - 95 Falmouth College of Arts. Senior Lecturer and Course Leader Foundation Studies
	1995 - 97 Nagoya University of Arts, Nagoya, Japan. Professor of Sculpture
	1997 - 02 Falmouth College of Arts. Course Leader Foundation Studies
	2002 - Nagoya University of Arts, Japan. Professor of Design

Visiting Lecturer:
	John Moores University of Liverpool
	Manchester Metropolitan University
	University of Central Lancashire
	University of the West of England
	Gloucester College of Arts and Technology
	South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education

Educational Exchanges:
	1994 The National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland
	1995-97 Nagoya University of Arts, Nagoya, Japan. Professor of Sculpture
	1999 The National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland

major group exhibitions

	1971 Mid Pennine Arts Festival. Sculpture for the Environment
	1972 Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. "Platform 72"
	1973–7 Manchester Academy Open Exhibitions
	1976 Weaver Museum, Cheshire "London Road Art"
	1977 Weaver Museum, Cheshire "London Road Art II"
	1987 Ibstock Design Centre, Bristol. "Changing Places" Exhibition of Enviromental Art
	1990 "View of the New", Newlyn Art Gallery
	1992 Sculpture Park, Stone Lane Arboretum, Devon
	1992 "Drawing", Newlyn Art Gallery
	1993 "DeMarco's Choice", Newlyn Art Gallery
	1993 Millfield Open Exhibition
	1994 Sculpture Projects, Newlyn Orion Gallery
	1995 Angela Flowers Selection, Newlyn Art Gallery
	1995 Osaka Triennale, Osaka, Japan
	1997 5th Kyong-Nam Fan Art Exhibition, Kyong-Nam, S Korea & Nagoya, Japan
	1998 "Contemporary Art Medals" British Art Medals Society
	1998 "In dent" Sculpture Show, Stroud House Gallery, Stroud, Glos.
	1998 Critics Choice - Theo Waddington's Selection, Newlyn Art Gallery
	1998 "Viewpoints" Artsway Gallery, Hants.
	1998 The Newlyn Society of Artists at the Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
	1999 "Contemporary Art Medals" British Art Medals Society
	1999 Critics Choice - Newlyn Art Gallery
	1999 "Japanese Connections" Falmouth College of Arts Gallery
	1999 "Stroud Open" Stroud House Gallery, Glos.
	1999 "In the Path of the Shadow" Geevor Gallery, Cornwall
	2000 "Critic's Choice" Newlyn Gallery
	2000 "Japanese Connections" C Square Gallery, Chukyo University, Nagoya & Seto Ceramic and Glass Art Museum, Japan
	2001 SW Academy of Fine and Applied Arts. Open Exhibition
	2002 "Construction" Newlyn Gallery, Cornwall
	2004 "Toyota Triennale", Toyota City Museum Of Art, Japan

solo and small group exhibitions

	1974 Peterloo Gallery, Manchester
	1976 Penzance Library Gallery. Photographic Works
	1978 Peterloo Gallery , Manchester
	1979 Kozan-ji, Kyoto, Japan
	1986 Falmouth College of Arts Gallery
	1994 "The Bloodshot Eye", Falmouth College of Arts Gallery
	1995 "The Bloodshot Eye", The Gallery in Cork Street, London
	1995 "The Bloodshot Eye", The Midland Arts Centre, Birmingham
	1997 Izuto gallery, Nagoya, Japan
	1997 CASA Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
	1997 Galerie 141, Nagoya, Japan
	1997-98 Toyota Automobile Company Gallery, Nagoya, Japan. Solo Exhibition
	2000 "Between East & West" Two Person Show, Daiwa Foundation Gallery, London
	2000 Seto Culture Centre, Seto, Japan. 4 person exhibition
	2002 "Gyo" 4 person show, Gallerie 141, Nagoya, Japan
	2004 Westbeth Gallery, Nagoya, Japan

site specific and landscape design works

	1989 "Working With Nature" Hayle, Cornwall. SW Arts
	1989 Amos and Penny, Falmouth
	1990 Dartington Hall, Devon
	1991 JT Design and Build, Bristol
	1993 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
	1995 Treliske Hospital, Truro
	1999 Private Commissions, Falmouth, Cornwall
	2001 Falmouth Moor Redevelopment Project. Falmouth, Cornwall
	2002 JT Design, Bristol: Landscape Design
	2002 Eden Project. Cornwall

agencies and affiliations

	Axis Database for Artists, Architects and Designers, Leeds Metropolitan University, Calverley Street, Leeds LS1 3HE. Website: http://www.axisartists.org.uk/all/ref6727.htm
	Member of the Newlyn Society of Artists
	Co-founder of "Artery", a group of artists and designers in Cornwall involved in designing and making public and site specific art works

collections

	Falmouth Art Gallery, UK
	Yoshida Collection, Tokyo
	Private Collections in UK, Ireland and Japan