Garth Evans : An Arts Council Collection exhibition selected by Richard Deacon
Garth Evans is one of Britain’s most prolific sculptors whose practice has largely been defined by the use of geometric, asymmetrical forms and a commitment to simple, everyday materials. Part of the generation between Anthony Caro and New British Sculpture, Evans is noted for a body of work that offers a bridge between 1960s modernism and the lyrical experimentation with a broader range of materials that followed in the late 1970s. Born in Manchester in 1934, Evans studied at the Slade School of Art (1957-60) and during the 1960s he taught in the Sculpture Department at St Martin’s School of Art where Richard Deacon studied under his direction. In 1979 Garth Evans made a radical break with the UK scene and moved to the US, since when his work has become relatively unknown here.
This exhibition, which presents the Arts Council Collection’s significant holdings alongside key loans from the artist and UK collections, has been selected by his friend and former student, Richard Deacon and promises a fresh view of a fascinating and diverse practice during an important period of inquiry and development. The show also celebrates the launch of Garth Evans Sculpture: Beneath the Skin – a major new monograph on the artist and his work, published by Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd.