Grenville Davey (28 April 1961 – 28 February 2022) was a British sculptor and winner of the 1992

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...

. Davey was a visiting professor of the

University of the Arts London The University of the Arts London is a public collegiate university in London, England, United Kingdom. It specialises in arts, design, fashion, and the performing arts. The university is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of ...

and programme leader, MA Fine Art at the

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

. From December 2010 he became resident artist at the physics department of

Queen Mary, University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London. Today, ...

, working with David Berman. Grenville was the artist-in-residence at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences from January to June 2012.

Life

Born in Launceston, Cornwall, Davey first studied art in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

before going to

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a Member institutions of the University of London, constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The G ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1985 where he took a BA in fine art. His first solo show was at the Lisson Gallery in London in 1987.artist's profile
Davey died following a long-term illness on 28 February 2022, at the age of 60. Davey is survived by his son, Sennen Davey, with his former wife, the sculpto
Victoria Burton-Davey
a stepson, Charles, and three brothers, Graham, Chris and Adrian. Davey played football with Dave Rowe in the summer of 1976.

Work

Davey's work was influenced by the work of sculptors such as

Tony Cragg Sir Anthony Douglas Cragg (born Liverpool 9 April 1949) is an Anglo-German sculptor, resident in Wuppertal, Germany since 1977. Early life and training Tony Cragg was born in Liverpool."Tony Cragg." ''Contemporary Artists''. Farmington Hills, ...

and Richard Deacon and shows a similar interest in industrial materials. The simplicity of his forms shows an affinity with

minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

. Many of his works make references to everyday objects which if exhibited in themselves would be

readymade A found object (a calque from the French ''objet trouvé''), or found art, is art created from undisguised, but often modified, items or products that are not normally considered materials from which art is made, often because they already have ...

s. ''Button'', a metre and a half wide clothes button made in steel, is a typical early work. Later works, such as ''Gold (Table)'' (a table as tall as a human) are larger in size. Primarily a sculptor, Davey produced a series of 12 prints with five other artists including etchings and screenprints.

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The institu ...

commissioned Davey to create a piece that reflected the maritime origins of the School, this resulted in a vast oak veneer wave wall. This is part of the School's contemporary art programme, which started in 2000.The initial idea was to commission or purchase some sculptures and pictures, but the building has relatively few suitable spaces for placing or hanging art. So instead the emphasis shifted towards commissioning works that fitted, both in terms of the themes of the school and the architecture of the building.

Awards

Davey won the Tate's

in 1992. Entitled ''HAL'', the work comprised two abstract steel objects, each measuring 244 x 122 cm (96 x 48 in).

References

External links

Architecture and the Visual Arts
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davey, Grenville 1961 births 2022 deaths 20th-century British sculptors 21st-century British sculptors English sculptors English male sculptors Turner Prize winners Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London People from Launceston, Cornwall English contemporary artists