Richard Deacon

(Bangor, Gwynedd, 1949 - )

Europe, British

Richard Deacon spent much of his childhood in Sri Lanka and England. He studied at Somerset College of Art in Taunton, England, and in London, at St. Martin’s School of Art and the Royal College of Art, where he earned a master’s degree in environmental media. Deacon works primarily as a sculptor, often on a monumental scale, with various materials including wood, plastic and metal. Although his sculptures are abstract, they often contain biomorphic imagery.

By the 1980s Deacon began to gain national and international recognition, and in 1987 he received the Tate’s prestigious Turner Prize for British artists of promise. Public commissions worldwide followed, allowing Deacon to create works of immense scale such in Victoria Park in Plymouth, England and Central Park, New York City, among many others. Deacon has exhibited extensively throughout the world, and a major retrospective of his work was organized by Tate Liverpool in 1999. Among his many awards, Deacon received the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres from the Ministry of Culture, France and was named a Commander of the British Empire for his contributions to the arts in Britain. He lives and works in London.

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