Artist:
Simon Bacon
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Simon Bacon was born in 1969 in Essex, U.K. He currently lives and works in Essex. Bacon studied at the London Atelier of Representational Art under Valentina Zlatarova (2011) and completed postgraduate studies at Colchester School of Art (2013). Concerned with an existentialist approach to form, Bacon works predominantly in bronze, exploring the human body’s capacity for movement and perception, as well as the process of sculpting as a meditative and expressive act in itself. His work pushes the boundaries of figuration in order to render in bronze something akin to the feeling of the lived experience.
Influenced by his research in Osteopathy and Transpersonal Psychology, Bacon is concerned with both the body and the mind, themes his practice explores through notions of identity construction, individuality, chance and freedom of choice. These ideas are naturally embodied through the sculptor’s process, which consists of multiple stages of construction and deconstruction; from the initial unmediated modelling in clay to the development of a maquette, which is reworked and altered many times over prior to casting.
Bacon’s work parallels the singularity, complexity and ambiguity of human nature. Forms and surfaces often appear fragile, eroded or fragmented, suggesting physical and psychological states or the conflict between subjective experience and objective reality. Contingent effects produced by this casting process are contextualised within the relationship between intentionality, chance and the unconscious. Often meditating on each object for extended periods of time prior to and during casting, Bacon is interested in how the depth of the artist’s connection, both to the object and the process of making it, might influence these contingent outcomes.
Simon Bacon was awarded the Firstsite Collectors Award in 2014. In 2013 Bang and Olufsen mounted a solo exhibition of his work, Art and Living, presented at Bang and Olufsen’s Colchester gallery. Bacon has also been included in numerous group exhibitions throughout the U.K., including: Visual Variations: Figurative to Abstract, NoonPowell Gallery, Notting Hill, London (2020); Christmas Exhibition, NoonPowell Gallery, Notting Hill, London (2020); Out of this World, Thompson's Gallery, London (2019); London Art Fair (2019); Summer Exhibition, The Minories Gallery, Colchester (2018); London Art Fair (2018); 35th Annual Exhibition, Thompson's Gallery, Aldeburgh (2017); Art 50 Exhibition, Sculpt Gallery (2017); Are you interested in bodies?, Sentinel Gallery, Wivenhoe (2017); The Art of Casting, Sculpt Gallery (2015); A Year in Review, Lacey Contemporary Gallery (2015); Autumn Exhibition Thompson's Gallery, Aldeburgh (2015); Open Studios, Sculpt Gallery (2015); Sentinel Gallery, Wivenhoe (2015); Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London (2014); Bacon Fenn & Moran: A Dedication to Form, Lacey Contemporary Gallery, London (2014); Shaping The Future: Simon Bacon & Lucy Lutyens, Sculpt Gallery (2014); and The Brick Lane Gallery, London (2013).
Simon Bacon's work was written about and featured in eminent Professor of Neuropsychology, Christine Temple's book, 'Picasso's Brain, The Basis of Creative Genius', published in 2016. As well as being an avid collector of his work, she had a deep fascination for his sculptures. The book explores the creative process and the creative brain - (excerpt below):
Feature on Simon Bacon - Luxury Lifestyle Magazine (2019) - click to read
