Behind the Lines: Jon Buck

Jon Buck’s lively human, bird and animal sculptures look back to a time when animal monuments were worshipped, and explore the human need for cultural icons. Eschewing fashion from the start of his career, Jon Buck has pursued his own interests in primitivism and the links between the physical processes of ‘making’ and the emotional and psychological content of his compositions. Indeed Buck likes to think of his sculptures as acting as intercessors between our contemporary intellectual selves and a more ancient, unconscious self that connects with our primitive, fundamental nature.

Through the reduction of detail to simple line and volume, Buck gives his ideas a direct expression. His bold and joyful use of colour enhances our primary response to each piece and also gives each imagined creature or goddess a playful nature which is often reflected in its title. Drawing directly on to the form reinterprets the shape and creates a dialogue between the sculptural volume of the piece and the image represented by line. Interestingly it also sets up a visual tension of the surface with the complimentary colours vibrating optically as the line cuts through the mass.

Born in 1951, Jon Buck studied at Nottingham and Manchester Art Schools. He was a Fellow in Sculpture at Cheltenham College of Art, elected a Member of the Royal West of England Academy and in 1994, became an Associate of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. Buck has completed numerous public commissions and has exhibited widely. He is currently an associate lecturer at Southampton Institute, whilst also maintaining a studio in Bath.

Exhibition Catalogue

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