Mark Goldsworthy

Mark Goldsworthy

Forward

Standing in front of Mark Goldsworthy’s 3 in a boat, I find myself feeling how easily I could be in Norwich Cathedral, the sculpture having gently floated itself from the bosses, off to a new life elsewhere. Equally, they could have rowed themselves from the pages of the Macclesfield or Gorleston psalters, still unsure where they may have come from or where they may be heading…

If the Romanesque is Mark’s natural hinterland, 3 in a boat may signal a small but significant shift from some element of narrative to an increasing concern with form. This search for simplicity follows two paths, differing but by no means exclusive. The first looks way back from Cycladic and Sumerian cultures to the latter days of Palaeolithic period, the other, back to 1914 and the articulation and explanation of Significant Form - an insistence on the value of the work, the object itself and its ability to elicit an emotional response.

Whatever period these ‘feedings’ come from and wherever their roots lie, they belong to a world where art had to function, had to ‘work’ and in these specific roles, be the gateway from simplicity to universality.

So, the key to Mark’s current work is the reduced concern for appearance and a stronger weighting towards essence. Here, materials are integral to his intentions: Holly or cedar, limestone or granite all give slowly, to be listened to with care and understanding. Gradually their secrets emerge. With patience and tenacity, the work unfolds and through consummate craftsmanship the finished work is born.

The studio and workshops are high on an elevated ridge of the Waveney valley. Among the bird life and Mark’s animals – the atmosphere is one of peace and purposeful quietness. Stacked shelves testify both to his industry and to his rigour. What appear to be finished pieces turn out to be still unresolved or not yet meeting the exacting standards needed to exhibit. Tiny fragments, at first seem like clippings or cut-offs but when cradled in the hand, suffuse with life and hours of patient working – a 3D sketchbook hinting at directions where future work may go. The work is both of its time and about Mark’s time. It is deeply serious and yet, humour sparks from it. It is humane to the core and manages to communicate the aliveness in its making and the sense of ‘being in the world’ of its maker. Brancusi, Hepworth, and Hans Arp spring to mind. More unexpected is Rothko, less in his paintings than in his writing.

This synthesis view of art seems entirely congruent with how Mark lives and works … today he is chipping away at a block of Norwegian granite with 300 million years history and weighing in at roughly a small family car. The dappled spring sunshine seems fleeting and ephemeral, yet, the scene of Mark bent over, mallet and chisel in hand, somehow seems very permanent.

Martin Battye
April 2022

Mark Goldsworthy

Born 30.09.1962

1974-81 Educated at Wymondham College, Norfolk

1981-82 Foundation course at Great Yarmouth College of Art & Design

1982 Worked as deckhand aboard 130 foot sailing barque

1983 Worked as cellarman

1983-86 BA (Hons) Fine Art. Manchester Polytechnic

1986 Three month tour of European Galleries

1987-91 Leased and managed group studios, St. Mary's works, Norwich

1988-89 Taught weekly life drawing class from studio

1989-90 Itinerant artist in South Africa

1991 Visit to the USA and New York galleries Birth of daughter Holly

1992 Completed first hand made book of linocuts - Siddhartha

1994 Painting stage set for The Rolling Stones World Tour

1996 Moved to new studio

1998 Formed the Broad Street Guild. A workshop of your craftsmen

2001 Married Jan, Art Therapist

2003 Birth of daughter Amber

2010 Moved to current studio

"The last few years has been a search for a simplified form and purity of expression of the human spirit"

Reviews

20th April 1990 "Arts Review" Ray Ruston

29th May 1992 "The Guardian" Angella Johnson

July/August 1992 "Images" Editorial

April 1993 The Guardian Art for sale

The catalogue of British Art today January 2000 "Woodcarving Magazine News"

July 2001 "Craftsman Magazine"

Commissions

1993 15 foot sculpture 'Every seed is the future' Holt Country Park

1994 Sculpture 'Yes No Why Because' Holt Country Park, Norfolk

1995 Sculpture 'Sent from Heaven' The Front Row Arts Programme, Anglia TV

1999 Sculpture for North Walsham Town Council

2000 Sculpture 'Saint Martin's Day' ,CNS school, Norwich

2000 Sculpture 'Saint Felix', Sandringham Estate, Norfolk

2000 Sculpture 'River Story' Waveney District Council, Homersfield

2000 Sculpture St Augustine's Healthy Living Centre, King's Lynn

2001-2002 40 foot carved footbridge Highgate school, Kings Lynn

2002 Sculpture 'Mum, bags brook …' South Norfolk District Council

2002 Sculpture 'Bear and Raven' Sandringham Estate, Norfolk

2002 Sculpture 'Day Out' Whitlingham lane Country Park, Norfolk

2008 Sculpture 'St George', St Georges park, Great Yarmouth

2009-2011 Sculpture 'Family Walk' The Walks, King's Lynn

2019 Street scenes in Vienna (pastels)

RESIDENCIES

1991 Artist in Residence, King's Lynn Arts Centre, Norfolk

1993 Artist in Residence, Holt Country Park, Norfolk

1994 Artist in Residence, Ickworth House, Suffolk

1994 Artist in Residence, Holt Country Park, Norfolk

2016 Residence with Gaspare de Brescia, San Pantaleo, Sardinia

EXHIBITIONS

1985 Whitworth Young Contemporaries, Manchester

1988 Print Show, Contact Gallery, Norwich

1989 Galleries Gay, Dinard, France

1989 One man Show, The Assembly Rooms, Norwich

1990 Summer Exhibition, Advice Arcade, Norwich

1990 Drawings for All, Gainsborough's House, Sudbury,

1990 Centre d'Art Contemporaire, Rouen; France

1990 One man show, Chappel galleries, Essex

1990 Printworks, Colchester, Essex

1990 Knapp gallery, London

1990 The gallery, Norfolk Institute of Art and Design

1990 The Pastel Society, Mall Galleries, London

1990 Galerie IV Gay, Dinard, France

1990 Gallery 45, Norwich

1991 Laing Art Competition, Ipswich

1991 One man show, Contact Gallery, Norwich

1991 One man show, King of Hearts, Norwich

1991 Bankside Open Print Competition, London

1991 One man show, L'Orangerie, Valenciennes, France

1991 Artist in Residence, The Circus Project, King's Lynn

1992 Wilde Contemporary Art, Mall Galleries, London

1992 One man show, The Old Workshop Gallery, Corpusty, Norfolk

1992 Chappel Gallery, Essex

1992 Splinter Gallery,London

1992 Wilde Contemporary Art, South Audley Street Gallery, London

1992 Fith Avenue, Johannesburg, South Africa

1993 Wilde Contemporary Art, The Hyde Park Gallery, London

1993 Laing Art Competition, Bury St Edmunds & Mall Galleries

1993 One man show, The Old Workshop Gallery, Corpusty, Norfolk

1993 Art for Sale, Bayswater, London

1993 Gallery 12B, Norway

1993 Hall Gallery,

1993 Wilde Contemporary Art, Wasserturm, Vienna, Austria

1993 Artist in Residence,Holt Country Park

1994 One man show, Chappel Gallery, Essex

1994 Wilde Contemporary Art, Mall Galleries, London

1994 Paul Fowler Studio, Yaohan Plaza, London

1994 Open Drawing Competition, Cheltenham

1994 Norfolk and Norwich Arts Festival, Norfolk

1994 Unicorn Pictures, London

1994 East West Gallery, London

1994 Artist in Residence, Ickworth House, Suffolk

1994 Artist in Residence, Holt Country Park

1997 Edith Grove Gallery, London

1997 Sculpture Trail, Bergh Apton, Norfolk

1997 John Innes Institute,Norwich

1997 Utraque Lungo, Vienna, Austria

1997 Art Connoisseur Gallery, London

1998 Working on Commissions

1999 New York Art Fair,

1999 Bergh Apton Sculpture Trail, Norfolk

2000 Chappel Gallery, Essex

2001 Working on Commissions

2002 Working on Commissions

2003 Light and Space, Salthouse, Norfolk

2003 One man show, Chappel Gallery, Essex

2004 Working on Commissions

2005 Working on Commissions

2006 Working on Commissions

2007 Working on Commissions

2008 Bergh Apton Sculpture Trail, Norfolk

2009 The Rooms Gallery, Llandeilo, Wales

2010 Working on Commissions

2011 Working on Commissions

2012 Working on Commissions

2013 The Walled Garden, Loddon, Norfolk

2013 Taith Contemporary Art, Wittgenstein Haus, Vienna

2013 Snape Maltings, Suffolk

2013 Peter Pears Gallery, Aldeburgh

2014 Working on Commissions

2015 Marks Hall, Coggeshall, Essex

2015 The Walled Garden, Loddon, Norfolk

2015 The Chapel, Norwich 2016 Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire

2017 One man show, Chappel Gallery, Essex

2017 Marks Hall, Coggeshall, Essex

2018 Orange Moon, Vienna, Austria

2019 Anteros, Norwich. Solo show

2019 Orange Moon, Vienna, Austria. Two man show

2019 Raveningham sculpture trail, Norfolk

2021 Beaulieu Sculpture trail, Hampshire

2021 Taith gallery, Vienna, Austria

2021 Waveney and Blyth sculpture trail, Suffolk

2022 Studio Cennen, Llandeilo,Wales

2022 Chappel galleries, Essex. Solo show

COLLECTORS AND COLLECTIONS

North Norfolk District Council

North Walsham Town Council

Waveney District Council

South Norfolk District Council

Norwich City Council

CNS school

Sandringham Estate

Bayfield Hall

PRIVATE COLLECTIONS IN

United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia