Art at the Edge

Men's Synchronised 10m Platform Diving World Cup

2012-02-24T07:47:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate enough to attend the Men's Synchronised 10m Platform Diving World Cup yesterday in the Aquatics Centre at the Olympic Park.

It was a very exciting event and a great opportunity to get a closer look at the Olympic Park. Although, it is clear there is still a lot to be done before the summer you could already feel a buzz in the atmosphere. Anish Kapoor's snaking steel structure dominates the skyline at the park and on a sunny day like yesterday there is a great backdrop of the city behind.

Never daring to dive from the top diving board myself, I was amazed by the acrobatic diving and precision (in most cases!) The 10m high platform mean that through gravity alone the divers hit the water at speeds of up to 40mph!

The winners of the event, Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan from China most certainly shone but there was a lot of support for Britain's Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield. There has been criticism of Daley's performance yesterday morning, remarking he is putting too much emphasis on media commitments. Nevertheless, I most certainly look forward to watching this duo perform at the Olympic Games, even if only on the TV.

Don't forget....the life-sized wire mesh sculpture of Tom Daley by Nikki Taylor will be on display in Bath as part of the city-wide sculpture trail, Sculpture and Sport: a Celebration for 2012 from the 22nd May - 9th September.

Sue Freeborough's Fencing sculpture on the cover of The Bath Magazine.

2012-01-10T02:12:00.000-08:00

Art at the Edge sculptures: an image of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

2012 has finally come and we excitedly prepare for our celebration of sport and art. We have achieve a lot over the last few years.... The full bronze collection of 30 Olympic and Paralympic sculptures is now complete and we have a diverse collection of guest artists creating powerful and thought-provoking art.

2012 is the year Art at the Edge will exhibit the complete bronze collection in a series of major exhibitions including, The Ashmolean, Oxford, The Victoria Art Gallery, Bath and The Oxo Gallery, London. Furthermore, as the Olympic torch passes through Bath on the 22nd of May, Art at the Edge's public sculpture trail will launch! Incredible life sized sculptures will be located in dramatic setting around Bath so keep your eyes peeled!

To mark the beginning of this much anticipated year, The Bath Magazine chose to feature Sue Freeborough's Fencing sculpture for the cover of their first issue of 2012. If you are in Bath don't forget to pick up a copy of The Bath Magazine or it can be viewed online at: http://issuu.com/mcpublishing/docs/bathmag0112?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage

Nikki Taylor's wire mesh sculptures at the Royal United Hospital, Bath

2011-11-29T06:11:00.000-08:00

Guest artist, Nikki Taylor has three of her stunning life-size, wire mesh sculptures on display at the Royal United Hospital, Bath.

The sculptures are located in the hospital as part of their exhibition programme, Art at the Heart of the RUH: http://www.ruh.nhs.uk/art/exhibitions/current.asp?menu_id=202
Art at the Heart presents a high quality programme of arts within the RUH for the benefit of patients, staff and visitors.

The sculptures of Olympic diver Tom Daley and the torso of a female tennis player are on display in the Central Courtyard (Zone B).

Tom Daley by Nikki Taylor

Tennis Girl Torso by Nikki Taylor

The wire mesh sculpture of the 'Bath Bullet', sprinter Jason Gardener can be seen in the Rolling Hills Courtyard (Zone A).

Jason Gardener by Nikki Taylor

To create her sculptures, Nikki takes precise measurements of the athletes and makes the sculptures freehand, moulding the mesh in the air. Below you can see Nikki measuring Jason Gardener at The University of Bath's Sports Training Village in preparation for her sculpture.

The exhibition at the hospital runs from now until February 2012.
In the summer of 2012 Nikki's life-sized sculptures amongst others will be on display in the streets of Bath as part of a sport themed sculpture trail, Sculpture and Sport: a Celebration for 2012.

All the sculptures are for sale and can be purchased through Art at the Edge's online shop: https://www.artattheedge.org/shop/
Profits from the sales of sculptures go to our beneficiaries, The Youth Sport Trust and ParalympicsGB.

Life- sized Judo sculpture by Sophie Dickens demonstrates the artistry of sculpture and sport

2011-10-26T01:29:00.000-07:00

The Sculptor Sophie Dickens has captured the artistic beauty of the perfect Judo throw in an extraordinary life-sized Judo sculpture currently on display at CircleBath, which truly demonstrates the marriage of sport and art. She gave a fascinating talk last week, on the process involved in understanding the dynamics of the sport and creating her sculpture. Her talk was illustrated with a demonstration of the throw by Team Bath Olympic hopeful Jan Gosiewski, British Judo Squad member and European Cup gold medallist, assisted by two young judoka Adam Bolwell and Joda Callan.

Jan had repeated the throw dozens of times for Sophie when she visited Team Bath, at the University of Bath, to sketch and take photographs of the sport before starting work on her sculpture. This allowed her to construct the artwork from shaped pieces of seasoned oak, which really capture the movement in one of the classic winning judo throws ‘Morote Seoinage’ or the two arm shoulder throw.

The project is fund raising to have the life-sized sculpture cast in bronze, with the aim of displaying it both in Bath, prior to the Games and at the ExCel centre, the venue for the judo competition during the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

This dramatically impressive life-sized sculpture is 2m high, it can be viewed in the reception of CircleBath until the end of the month, where visitors are welcome.

A limited edition bronze of the beautiful maquette sized 'Morote Seoinage' sculpture, which is currently exhibited in the British Airways First Class Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5, can be purchased from the online shop at https://www.artattheedge.org/shop/

Profits from the project will be used to benefit disadvantaged or disabled young people through the life changing work of the Youth Sport Trust and ParalympicsGB.

A film of the bronze judo sculpture can be seen at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTHeUhp6BF8

Project blogs One creative year: studio, birth and motherhood by Briony Marshall

2011-09-27T02:26:00.000-07:00

Briony Marshall has created a dynamic maquette 'The Drag Flick' based on Hockey, for our bronze collection.
In December 2010, when 5 months pregnant, Briony was offered and accepted a one year residency at Pangolin London in Kings Cross starting almost immediately. Her fascinating blog charts her attempt to ‘have it all’: a year of focused studio time and a happy growing family life.

http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1050959/0/2/desc

Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP presents prize to Art at the Edge lottery winner

2011-09-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport yesterday presented the winner of the first Art at the Edge Lottery with her prize. Tickey Tuppen was the lucky recipient and had chosen the beautiful Paralympic sprint themed sculpture by Charlotte Barker from the commissioned collection of bronzes. It was inspired by the Paralympic world champion athlete Libby Clegg.

The presentation took place at Trafalgar Sq in sight of the Paralympic countdown clock, which declared it was 350 days to go to the opening on the London Paralympic games in 2012.

Art at the Edge are running a second lottery which will be drawn on the last day of the Paralympic Games, 9th September 2012.
Tickets can be bought online at https://www.artattheedge.org/news/art-at-the-edge-lottery-2/
The winners prize is their choice of a bronze maquette sculpture from the stunning commissioned collection of 30 original artworks based on Olympic and Paralympic sports which can all be viewed on the website.

Paralympic sculpture competition winner announced

2011-08-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Paralympic sculpture competition was announced today at the Paralympic simulation camp 2011 at the University of Bath . Pete Sherrard was presented with the commission prize of £1000 by Tim Hollingsworth CEO of ParalympicsGB

The judges were impressed by the many creative and diverse entries but Pete's wonderful depiction of wheelchair racing was felt by the judges to really celebrate the dynamic power of Paralympic athletes.
The sculpture will now be cast in bronze and complete the collection of 30 commissioned sculptures which will be exhibited in Bath, Oxford and London during 2012 to raise money to support disabled and disadvantaged young people though the work of ParalympicsGB and the Youth Sport Trust.

First lottery draw winner

2011-07-21T00:07:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Ticky Tuppen the first winner of the Art at the Edge.Ticky has chosen the Paralympic Sprinting study by Charlotte Barker as her prize, she said of the sculpture; "In order for any of us to achieve our dreams we need the support of others and this sculpture for me displays the focus, energy and emotion that is involved and I find it inspirational."

Charlotte who has just graduated from Loughborough University with a first in Fine Art, and takes up a place on the MA course at the prestigious Goldsmiths College in the autumn said she was 'thrilled' that her sculpture was chosen by Ticky and it was 'a huge compliment'.

Charlotte Barker ( left) worked in collaboration

with Libby Clegg, ( right) the visually impaired

sprinter who inspired the piece.

We will be running one more lottery to give the fantastic chance to win the bronze study of your choice from the commissioned collection. This will be launched very soon, keep checking the website for details.

Art at the Edge sculptures at Heathrow Terminal 5

2011-07-17T13:52:00.000-07:00

A selection of our bronze commissioned collection have gone on display at Heathrow's Terminal 5 along with the wire mesh sculpture of guest artist Nikki Taylor.
The artworks will be on display until September to promote our project and encourage visitors to travel to Bath next year and enjoy our public art event 'Sculpture and Sport a celebration for 2012'.

Our collection of 30 Olympic and Paralympic themed bronze studies will be exhibited in the Victoria Art Gallery and Nikki's sculptures of Jason Gardener and Tom Daley will be amongst an exciting outdoor sculpture trail of large scale work displayed against the stunning architectural backdrop of our heritage city.

Live carving of Mark Foster's Torso

2011-06-13T05:42:00.001-07:00

Guest artist, Ben Dearnley will once again be opening the workshop doors to the public, giving people the opportunity to watch as he carves the the 2.69 tonne block of Bath stone into Mark Foster's torso. This is an exciting time to witness Ben at work, he has been making great progress on the carving and the torso is taking shape.

The workshop will be from noon to 5pm every day this week (13th - 17th June) at the Old Petrol Station workshop, Crescent Lane (opp. Marlborough Tavern).

Preview Exhibition at the Bristol Gallery - Private View

2011-06-10T06:33:00.000-07:00

Art lovers turned out in Bristol to get an early preview of the inspirational commissioned collection of bronze sculptures, 'Sculpture and Sport a celebration for 2012'.
Ten of the sculptural studies were on view and curator of the collection Alan Dun explained a little of the history of the cultural side of the modern Olympics, the inspiration behind the collection. The exhibition continues until 26th June.
Lottery tickets are available to purchase at the Gallery, to win your choice of one of the bronze collection.

Alan Dun's cycling sculpture is enjoyed at the Bath Sky Ride

2011-06-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Alan Dun's exciting cycling sculpture was enjoyed by hundreds of cyclists who took part in the Bath Sky Ride on Sunday. Despite the wet weather even more people took part in this years event, the second year it has been run in Bath. Many riders stopped at the British Cycling Cafe and admired the bronze sculpture. Thanks British Cycling for giving us the space..congratulations on an awesome event!

Alan's sculpture or any of the other bronzes in the commissioned collection could be won in our Art at the Edge Lottery, visit our website to buy a ticket for the first draw on 30th June. https://www.artattheedge.org/news/breaking-news/

See Alan Dun's fantastic cycling sculpture at Bath Sky Ride

2011-06-02T01:12:00.000-07:00

Alan Dun's fantastic cycling sculpture in bronze entitled 'The race' will be on display in the British Cycling Cafe situated in front of the Royal Crescent at the Bath Sky Ride this weekend on Sunday 5th June.
Ride past Bath’s world-renowned landmarks and enjoy the entertainment British Cycling have planned throughout the day. Don’t miss the chance to meet TV star Gethin Jones, Team Sky’s Ben Swift and British BMX racing star Liam Phillips, who’ll also be dropping in to the Bike Café. http://www.goskyride.com/Bath

Preview Exhibition at the Bristol Gallery

2011-05-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

A preview exhibition of the bronze collection will open at the Bristol Gallery next week on 6th June.
The curator of the collection Alan Dun will be speaking about some of the sculptures at the private view which is on 9th June between 6-8pm. For an invitation contact riann@artatthteedge.org

Nikki Taylor's sculptures previewed at Thermae Spa

2011-05-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

There was a private preview of sculptor Nikki Taylor's wire mesh artwork at the Cross Bath, Thermae Spa last week. Art 100 Club members were able to enjoy an evening reception by the natural spring and pool and get an early view of Nikki's stunning sculptures of Olympic Gold medallist the 'Bath bullet' Jason Gardener, World Champion and 2012 hopeful, diver Tom Daley and more of her other beautiful sports sculptures and torso works.
Nikki's work will be displayed on the streets of Bath in the summer of 2012 in our public exhibitions 'Sculpture and sport a celebration for 2012'. All sculptures are for sale and profits from the project go to support the life changing work of the Youth Sport Trust and ParalympicsGB.

To join the Art 100 Club and participate in future Art at the Edge events contact Project Director Justin Braithwaite at justin@artattheedge.org

Bath Stone carving of Olympian Mark Foster starts this weekend

2011-04-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend sculptor Ben Dearnley will start work on the larger then life size carving of Olympic swimmer Mark Foster's torso. The 2.69 tonne block of Bath stone, generously donated by the Bath Stone Group was unveiled by Mark last October.

Ben is opening the doors to the public over Easter weekend, to watch him begin the carving process, and there will be regular opportunities over the coming months to see the figure emerge from the stone. The workshop is at the Old Petrol Station, Crescent Lane, opposite the Marlborough Tavern, and will be open from 2-4pm each day from Saturday 23rd April to Mon 25th April .

Art at the Edge will also be displaying a selection of their commissioned bronze sculptures at the workshop, and renowned local artist Deborah van der Beek will be talking about her Modern Pentathlon sculpture and showing her inspirational sketchbooks on Saturday from 2.30-3.30pm. Art At The Edge Lottery Tickets will be on sale giving you the chance to win one of the bronze sculptures in the collection worth up to £5000!

AWESOME BASKETBALL SCULPTURE FOR 2012

2011-04-04T08:56:00.000-07:00

Check out the timelapse films of sculptor George Triggs creating the life size version of his awesome Basketball Sculpture for Art at the Edge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldIZagp0CE8
More about the project at :http://www.artattheedge.org/