Nancy Ireson met sculptor John Gibbons at his exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, part of the ‘Interventions’ series which focuses on artists with an innovative approach to portraiture
A South London railway arch, behind a heavy steel door, John Gibbons keeps an orderly studio. I meet the artist there on a damp October afternoon. Inside, the air is cool, infused with the scent of metal. As for its contents, they are many and varied; fourteen small and mid-scale works preside, some placed on mobile platforms for ease of movement. Others pieces, covered by dust cloths, create a hillside of sorts against one wall. Arranged in an organised fashion, they lead the eye up into the high curve of the brick ceiling, while the odd suspended strip bulb casts its light down and across the relatively narrow space. The soundtrack is jazz; and it seems entirely appropriate. These are rhythms fit for activity, for a place of artistic industry, where process is as important as product
On the eve of his show at the Hunt Museum, Limerick, in Winter 2009 Joseph McBrinn considered the unique aesthetic Rudolf Heltzel has brought to jewellery design.
