John Hawkwood, trained by Ian Hanson who went on to be the principal of Madame Tussauds, is a happy confluence of classical tradition and contemporary interpretation, and judges the quality of his work by its ability to communicate and evoke powerful emotional responses.
His work is contemporary whilst nodding respect in the direction of the classical tradition. He is a fugitive from what he calls the “anti-art” trend which he feels, whilst it may be valid as a kind of entertainment, does not warrant classification as art. To quality as art, he believes, there should be an element of beauty in an object and skill in its making. He believes that art which no-one wants to buy is probably of little value. Ultimately, though, he gauges the success of his work, not in financial terms but by its ability to communicate and evoke meaningful non verbal responses.
Sculptures by john hawkwood
Credentials
Qualifications
Trained at Rochdale College of Art.,Trained at Rochdale College of Art.
Exhibitions
yes
John originally from Lancashire, now works from his studio in the barn at his home near York.
Went to Art College in the sixties, he then went into teaching - a move which he now feels was a mistake and spent a number of years raising his three sons on a small self-sufficient farmstead high in the Pennines. He eventually turned to a career in art in the mid eighties beginning in a rented gareet studio in Hebden Bridge.