About
the Artist
Born near Drogheda in 1972, Gavan McCullough grew up in a rural
environment which provided stimulus and space to nurture a strong
creative impulse. Throughout teenage years he experimented with
different styles of painting and photography which led to successfully
sitting state art exams despite absence of formal tuition.
At the age of seventeen he moved to Belfast to study aeronautical
engineering; however, feeling restricted by
the lack of imagination required in his studies he embarked on a
year-long visit to Pisa in Italy as a foreign
student from 1993 to 1994.
One year later
saw him back in Belfast to finish the degree, but having been impressed
by the full-blooded approach to aesthetics in the Mediterranean,
he returned once again to Florence, this time to attend the Accademia
di Belle Arti. Shortly after this, frustrated by the overly-traditional
approach of the teaching methods employed and lack of creative movement,
not to mention lack of funds, he returned to Ireland to combine
both technical and language skills to start in the IT sector.
This gave the necessary
stability to start sculpting in clay in his spare time and also
financed the first bronze
cast of Head#3. Numerous clay sketches drew him increasingly towards
full rounded shapes which can be seen
in the heads, figures and animals. Much of the inspiration for the
weight in the shapes comes from Bottero,
Vangi and Michelangelo, while the inspiration for the animal figures
can be traced to an admiration for Marini
and Irish sculptor Fallon.
The latest of the
sculptures can be seen as an effort to pare down each subject to
its essentials to isolate
beauty and mass in their simplest forms.
If
you would like further information about artclimbers,
either as an artist or a viewer,
we may be contacted direct at
mail@artclimbers.co.uk
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