Editing Bill Woodrow

{{Short description|British sculptor}}
{{Infobox artist
|honorific_suffix = [[Royal Academy of Arts|RA]]
|image            = Bill Woodrow 2013.jpg
|caption          = Woodrow in 2013
|birth_name       = 
|birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1948|11|01|df=yes}}
|birth_place      = near [[Henley-on-Thames]], [[Oxfordshire]], England, UK
|death_date       = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes}} -->
|death_place      = 
|resting_place    = 
|resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LON|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} -->
|nationality      = [[United Kingdom|British]]
|spouse           = 
|field            = [[Sculpture]]
|alma_mater       = [[Winchester School of Art|Winchester College of Art]] (1967–1968), [[Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design]] (1968–1971), [[Chelsea School of Art]] (1971–1972)
|movement         = [[New British Sculpture]]
|works            = 
|patrons          = 
|awards           = 
|memorials        = 
|elected          = [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academician]] (2002)
|website          = {{URL|http://www.billwoodrow.com}}
}}
[[File:Pond (2006) by Bill Woodrow, Mudam, Luxembourg - 20060701.jpg|thumb|''Pond'' (2006) by Woodrow at the [[Mudam]] (Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art in [[Luxembourg]])]]

'''Bill Woodrow''' {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Royal Academy of Arts|RA]]}} (born 1 November 1948) is a British sculptor.

==Early years and education==
Bill Woodrow was born on 1 November 1948 near [[Henley-on-Thames]], [[Oxfordshire]]. He received his education at the [[Winchester School of Art|Winchester College of Art]] (1967–1968), the [[Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design]] in London (1968–1971), and the [[Chelsea School of Art]] (1971–1972).<ref name="CSF">{{citation|title=Bill Woodrow|url=http://www.sculpture.org.uk/artist/50/bill-woodrow|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006051021/http://www.sculpture.org.uk/artist/50/bill-woodrow|archive-date=6 October 2013|publisher=[[Cass Sculpture Foundation]]|access-date=24 March 2014}}.</ref>

==Artistic career==
[[File:Sitting on History (1995) by Bill Woodrow, British Library, London, UK - 20061031.jpg|thumb|left|Woodrow's ''Sitting on History'' (1995) was purchased for the [[British Library]] by [[Carl Djerassi]] and [[Diane Middlebrook]] in 1997. The sculpture, with its [[ball and chain]], refers to the book as the captor of information from which we cannot escape.]]
Woodrow was one of a number of British sculptors to emerge in the late 1970s on to the international contemporary art scene, together with fellow artists like [[Richard Deacon (sculptor)|Richard Deacon]] and [[Tony Cragg]].<ref name="Ina Cole">{{cite book |editor1-last=Cole |editor-first1=Ina |title=From the Sculptor’s Studio: Conversations with Twenty Seminal Artists |year=2021 |publisher=Laurence King Publishing Ltd |page=270-283|isbn=9781913947590 |oclc=1420954826}}</ref> Materials found in dumps, used car lots and scrap yards formed the raw materials for his early works; by partly embedding them in plaster, he made them seem as if they had been excavated. Subsequently, he turned to large consumer goods like cars and refrigerators. While their original structures could still be discerned, he cut portions out of them and reattached the portions to the main structures so that they appeared to be connected through [[umbilical cord]]s. He held his first solo exhibition at [[Whitechapel Art Gallery]] in London in 1972.<ref name="CSF"/>

Woodrow's works often featured a narrative element, and in the 1990s when he began to make work in bronze, stories remained an important element of his sculptures. A seminal work was ''In Awe of the Pawnbroker'' (1994), in which the meaning of the pawnbroker's symbol was unravelled. This sculpture has a number of elements that add up to what is virtually an installation. One of three artists selected to make a sculpture for the [[Fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square|Fourth Plinth]] in [[Trafalgar Square]], London, in 2000, Woodrow chose to explore a recurring theme in his work&nbsp;– the destruction of the planet and the insistent strength of nature over man&nbsp;– in the piece entitled ''Regardless of History''.<ref name="CSF"/><ref name="Ina Cole">{{cite book |editor1-last=Cole |editor-first1=Ina |title=From the Sculptor’s Studio: Conversations with Twenty Seminal Artists |year=2021 |publisher=Laurence King Publishing Ltd |page=270-283|isbn=9781913947590 |oclc=1420954826}}</ref>

==Major exhibitions==
[[File:Bunker-Mule (1995) by Bill Woodrow, Blåvand-Oksby, Denmark - 20120622.jpg|thumb|''Bunker/Mule'' (1995) in Blåvand-Oksby, Denmark]]
Important solo shows by Woodrow include the XXI [[São Paulo Art Biennial]] (Brazil, 1991); ''Fool's Gold'', an exhibition of bronze sculptures at the [[Tate Modern]] (London, UK, 1996); and ''Bee Keeper'' at the [[South London Gallery]] (2001).<ref name="Ina Cole">{{cite book |editor1-last=Cole |editor-first1=Ina |title=From the Sculptor’s Studio: Conversations with Twenty Seminal Artists |year=2021 |publisher=Laurence King Publishing Ltd |page=270-283|isbn=9781913947590 |oclc=1420954826}}</ref> Several exhibitions at the [[Royal Academy of Arts]] in London have featured his works, including ''Earth: Art of a Changing World'' (2009) and ''Modern British Sculpture'' (2011). Between 30 March and 29 September 2013, Woodrow curated the exhibition ''Here, There and Somewhere in Between'' at [[Hatfield House]] in [[Hatfield, Hertfordshire|Hatfield]], [[Hertfordshire]]. A joint project between the historic [[English country house|country house]] and the Royal Academy, the show included Woodrow's piece ''Endeavour: Cannon Dredged from the First Wreck of the Ship of Fools'' as well as works by [[Michael Craig-Martin]], Richard Deacon and [[Gary Hume]]. A major [[retrospective#Art|retrospective]] of his work was held at the Royal Academy between 7 November 2013 and 16 February 2014.<ref name="CSF"/>

==Awards and honours==
Woodrow was a finalist for the [[Turner Prize]] in 1986,<ref name="CSF"/> and was elected a [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academician]] in the sculpture category in May 2002.<ref>{{citation|title=Bill Woodrow RA|url=http://static.royalacademy.org.uk/files/bill-woodrow-rooms-1-2hr-1747.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323164540/http://static.royalacademy.org.uk/files/bill-woodrow-rooms-1-2hr-1747.pdf|archive-date=23 March 2014|publisher=[[Royal Academy of Arts]]|date=2013|page=5}}.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bill Woodrow}}
*[http://www.billwoodrow.com Official website of Bill Woodrow]

{{New British Sculpture}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2014}} {{use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodrow, Bill}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:20th-century British sculptors]]
[[Category:21st-century British sculptors]]
[[Category:Alumni of Central Saint Martins]]
[[Category:Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Southampton]]
[[Category:Artists from Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:British male sculptors]]
[[Category:English contemporary artists]]
[[Category:People from Henley-on-Thames]]
[[Category:Royal Academicians]]
[[Category:20th-century British male artists]]