WORK OF THE WEEK : Edward Allington, ‘Heraclitus DXLIYA’, 1992
Edward Allington
Heraclitus DXLIYA, 1992
Ink and emulsion on ledger paper on canvas
183 x 122 x 6 cm
72 x 48 x 2 ⅓ in.
Signature, title, date on the back
Text stanza quoted from the ancient philosopher Heraclitus (530-470 BC).
An epigram on the river of flux [B 49a]:IN THE SAME
RIVER, WE BOTH
STEP AND DO
NOT STEP, WE
ARE AND WE ARE
NOTA sculptor, writer and educator, Edward Allington (1951 – 2017) is well-known for his experimental practices, which often centre on a meditation between what is real, authentic or true. Allington was fascinated by the presence of classical forms in everyday life; be they restored fragments displayed in museums, reconstructions of Classical Greek sites, or kitsch reproductions of antiquity. Using familiar motifs, many of which inspired by the classical works of ancient Greece, Allington addresses the relationship between memory and recognisability, striving to highlight how the interest in forms throughout history remain present in contemporary culture.
Edward Allington was born in Cumbria and lived and worked in London. He studied at Lancaster College of Art (1968-71), Central School of Art and Design (1971-74) and at the Royal College of Art (1983-84). He taught at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, from 1990-2017, becoming Head of Graduate Sculpture in 2000 and Professor of Sculpture in 2006.
Allington became a Sargant Fellow at the British School at Rome in 1997 and a Gregory Fellow in Sculpture, 1991-93. His work is represented in major collections, including The Arts Council Collection, the Tate, Leeds Museums and Galleries, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum and the Dallas Museum of Art. He completed major public commissions in the United Kingdom, Germany and France, and has shown internationally in both solo and group exhibitions.
Shown as part of our current exhibition
