1952-2006
Mason was born in Bolton in 1952. He studied at Bolton College of Art and Design, Wolverhampton Polytechnic and the Royal Academy Schools. He won the Royal Academy Gold Medal in 1976. In 2002, he completed a major commission of six sculptures along the East Yar River on the Isle of Wight. Mason died in 2006.
Works
Vertex
Dove grey Bardolino marble from Carrara
1979
76x76x213 cm
Broad Walk, Harlow
With the assistance of an Arts Council of Great Britain grant the Trust provided Mason with his first major commission in 1979. Mason visited Pisani’s stone yard in Matlock where, ambitiously, he selected a three ton block of marble for carving by hand. It took him over twelve months to complete the piece.
Sculptors in the early stages of their career who get offered public commissions want to showcase their talents, as future commission will depend on the first.
Mason describes his ambitions as ‘a rite of passage’. He didn’t quite envisage the effort involved in making Vertex. It was originally conceived as being much bigger and was going to be sited where Gibberd’s Obelisk now stands, and Masons sculpture makes more sense in this location.
Vertex, consisting of a series of inter-connecting textured planes and curves, was initially inspired by the crossroads site at which it was to be located. Mason had the idea that these planes would propel the viewer around the form, providing a visual experience which combined the urban surroundings with the hand-carved shapes ‘in a merry-go-round kind of whirl’.
Courtyard
Marble
1985
21×26.5×2.5 cm
Gibberd Gallery, Harlow
Commissioned by Harlow Council to celebrate Alan Medd’s service to the Town as Treasurer, and then Town Clerk. Medd chose the artist.
Hinge
a 5 foot high sandstone carving can be seen in the Gibberd Garden. Commissioned by Sir Fredrick Gibberd in 1977.
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