TORO!

“An exhibition of sculpture and works on paper celebrating ‘the bull’ in all its guises.”

Gallery Pangolin, GL6 8NT

Saturday 18th April – 29th May

I have two sculptures exhibited in this show, one dating from the 1980’s, ‘Bullcalf’ and the other made in response to this exhibition, ‘Earth Bull’. The first was made as part of a group of works of animals and figures reflecting images relating to our biblical mythological heritage. The current sculpture makes more of a reference to the bull’s prehistoric symbolic history. The bull has been part of man’s lexicon of visual imagery since the Palaeolithic times, as illustrated by the beauty of the painted caves of Western Europe, and has continued as a cultural symbol to the present day.  The bull has always been connected to power, potency and procreation and because of this has a strong connection with the life force of the earth itself, hence the title of my sculpture.

Are these associations relevant today? Well the bull remains very much in our everyday language and we use it readily as a suffix to describe strength and power: bull-headed, bull-market, etc. Any doubts that an engagement with this symbol remains are soon dismissed by a visit to the Camargue or Andalusia. Close proximity to these feral beasts awakens a profound visceral response to their power and our primal connection to them.