雕塑家 (Sculptor)：Nick Bibby
年份 (Year)：1960
國籍 (Country)：英國
所謂的大地之子，頃生將愛投注於其中的鬼材，就是指Nick Bibby這樣的人吧?Nick Bibby 1960年出生於英國的達拉謨，打從他學習如何握筆時，就開始摸索繪畫技巧，13歲時他賣出人生中的第一座雕塑 (真是天才藝術家)，在那之後的10幾年，他最終成為一位全職雕塑家。
對於雕塑方面的專業Nick Bibby可說是自學成才，創作的動力來自於對大自然和生物源源不絕的愛，而他本身對於解剖學，動物學和古生物學相關的專業對製作雕塑亦有很大益助。
1999年時，他接到了塑造渡渡鳥銅像的案子 (渡渡鳥又稱模里西斯渡渡鳥、愚鳩、孤鴿，是僅產於南印度洋，在馬達加斯加島東側的模里西斯島上一種的不會飛的鳥 。這種鳥在1505年被人類發現後，僅僅200年的時間裡，便由於人類的捕殺和人類活動的影響，大量減少。約在1660年代前後，徹底絕滅)。此作成為他的代表作之一，並永久陳列於阿什莫爾博物館 (Ashmolean Museum) 。
除了渡渡鳥之外，他的另一件代表作品是為布朗大學 (Brown University，美國八所著名常春藤盟校之一)的委託打造了一隻真實比例的科迪亞克棕熊 (作為大學的吉祥物，科迪亞克棕熊是棕熊中體型最大的亞種，它們巨大的身板足以和那些白色近親"北極熊"相抗衡。一隻成年的科迪亞克大公熊站立起來能達到3米左右)，牠目前依舊站立在常春藤大學的新納爾遜健身中心外，這隻高度15英尺的龐然大物在2013年揭幕時，受到了非常熱烈的歡迎！
Nick Bibby的作品皆為限量版，每一組的數量為3-25，銅雕們乍看之下彷彿上了層顏色，每尊都各有所異，在製作過程中原料 (混合了稀釋的青銅用化學染料)在超過1100攝氏度的高溫燒制產生微量變化，呈現出的自然色彩。
Nick Bibby (information from nickbibby)
A bright and artistic child, it was clear from an early age that Nick Bibby was destined for a career in art.
Nick Bibby’s sculpture is imbued with such life and character. His affection for his chosen subjects shines out for all to see. It is truly rare to find an artist with such a talent for modelling. The ‘Bibby’ sculptural style, whilst very definitely figurative (to Nick’s eye, all his subjects are beautiful and he strives to recreate that beauty) he is quite unique in his approach. Fascinated by both form and detail he models with a fluidity and energy that few can equal, simultaneously and effortlessly combining that energy with a jewel-like attention to detail, resulting in sculptures that look as though they live and breathe. Bibby’s sculptures are both beautiful works of art and loving portraits, be they bird, animal, or human. With subjects ranging from small to monumental, Bibby’s work is owned and admired by an ever growing number of collectors, including royalty, politicians and business leaders, diplomats, famous authors, artists, actors and musicians.
Born in County Durham in 1960, Bibby started drawing and painting as soon as he could hold a pen (or paintbrush). His earliest sculptures as a toddler, were made from plasticine, or on some occasions, Opal Fruits (chewy fruit sweets) when the plasticine ran out, and he sold his first sculpture at age thirteen, becoming a full-time sculptor in his late teens.
Largely self taught; Nick Bibby has always had an abiding love of nature and the natural world and this, in combination with his interests in anatomy, zoology and palaeontology, are what drive his work. Using copious reference, either from life or literature, he first constructs a supporting armature of steel and aluminium that often closely matches the skeleton of his subject. He does not usually make working drawings. Having researched his subject, Bibby builds up a fluid mental image of the finished sculpture; a three dimensional image that does not benefit from being translated into two dimensional drawings, only to be translated back into 3 dimensions in the finished sculpture. As clay or wax is added to the supporting armature, building up the sculpture, he makes constant minor adjustments to composition, pose and form, always striving for the perfect aesthetic balance. The variety of the ever expanding ‘Bibby’ sculpture collection; birds, animals, and human, is driven by Nick’s constant search for knowledge and new challenges.
Nick exhibits work regularly at Sladmore Contemporary, Mayfair, London, as well as several other galleries in the UK. In addition, his work has been shown at The Royal Academy of Art, London, the Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli, Turin, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum of Art, Wisconsin, Sigurjon Olafsson Museum, Reykjavik and the Society of Portrait Sculptors, London, to name but a few.
In 1999 Nick Bibby was asked to sculpt life-size, scientifically accurate, bronzes of a dozen extinct birds and animals from the islands of Mauritius, Rodrigues and Réunion, including the most famous extinction of all – the Dodo. One of Nick’s most enjoyable commissions, “Bones to Bronze” was sculpted in close partnership with naturalists and palaeontologists from the region. The sculptures were created to raise awareness of the species lost and the species we continue to lose, whilst also raising funds toward continued conservation work on the islands through their sale. A complete collection is on permanent exhibition on the island of Ile aux Aigrettes, just off the coast of Mauritius, and a ‘Bibby’ Dodo is on permanent exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum, in Oxford. This Dodo has even had a children’s book written about him!
Nick Bibby’s wildlife subjects continue to be the mainstay of his collection, but in recent years his sculptures of “British Champion Animals”, inspired by the works of the same name, sculpted by Herbert Haseltine eighty years earlier, has brought further recognition and praise. Leading to a commission from the prestigious Ivy League University, Brown, to sculpt a monumental, life-size, Kodiak Brown Bear (the university’s mascot) to stand outside their new Nelson Fitness Centre, in Providence, Rhode Island. Called “Indomitable”, the fifteen-foot bear was installed late in 2013 when he and Nick were given a very warm and enthusiastic welcome!
More recently, Bibby has fulfilled commissions, for a small, but very characterful Indian Rhino, also to go to Rhode Island, and a nearly seven-foot heroic torso study of the Greek god, Apollo, for a private individual in the UK. Currently working on more wildlife pieces, Nick’s next challenge is something different again… and is already in the pipeline!
官網連結 (official website link)
原圖資料來自於nickbibby.com (source original from nickbibby.com)
