This year we are pleased to welcome the awe inspiring work of Dame Elisabeth Frink RA, one of Britain's greatest sculptors.  Dame Frink was a daughter of Suffolk, born in the village of Thurlow in 1930.  For the last 15 years of her life she lived in Dorset, where she died in 1993

As the daughter of a cavalry officer, Frink’s childhood was spent living alongside the RAF air bases in Suffolk. As a result, many of her male role models were soldiers and pilots. Frink witnessed first hand the horrors of war as planes were frequently shot down near her home. Her close proximity to the realities of conflict led her to create images of anguish and hatred, Prisoner’s Head and Goggle Heads for example, but she was also inspired by the heroic nature and self-confidence of the young men fighting the war.

The pieces on display span three decades from 1963 to 1984, and the School is very grateful to the Frink Trust in association with the Yorkshire Sculpture Park for their generosity.

ATLAS:

Atlas combines several of the themes that Frink returned to throughout her life and on this occasion her interest in Ancient Greece is reflected through mythology.

The image of Atlas holding the heavens on his shoulders is one of strength and heroism, an idea Frink often explored. The work also examines other themes that preoccupied Frink such as a strong, stable exterior disguising inner weakness.

Atlas, in Greek Mythology, was punished by Zeus for siding with the Titans and condemned to hold the sky on his shoulders for eternity. In this respect he is a prisoner being tortured for the part he played in a war, referring back to Frink’s Prisoner’s Head created two years earlier. The image of Atlas is often used to represent power and stability but Frink’s interpretation offers an alternative idea, using the image as a symbol of mankind’s weakness and vulnerability.

FIRST MAN:

Frink’s portrayal of the human condition was not restricted to the depiction of figures of despair or hate – much of her work was also concerned with optimism.

First Man illustrates Frink’s appreciation of the male figure for its potency and strength and also highlights her ability to communicate the many facets of mankind through her work.

JUDAS:

The figure of Judas is one of the most powerful embodiments of betrayal. Here, Frink tackles a subject rarely seen in art and conveys all that is ambiguous and difficult about the character: his blunt hands and contorted body and face are strange and uncomfortable; his masked eyes and deep gouged features are brutal and harsh. With his head turned away and obscured eyes, this work also conveys a sense of shame.

Frink’s sculptures most often take the form of solitary male figures who, like Judas, are made to convey strong emotion in their form. However, Frink tackled not only evil, terror or hatred but also the strength, vulnerability and beauty of man. Many of her works stand as a symbol for humanity, referring to Amnesty International, of which Frink was an active supporter. Frink used the male figure to embody her ideas –  as the most appropriate way to convey the complexity of man’s nature. Ignoring dominant artistic trends, she worked primarily with male and animal forms.

TRIBUTE HEADS:

Frink used heads to convey a variety of different human emotions and the Tribute Heads are in stark contrast to the sinister Goggle Heads she produced in the previous decade.  The eyes of the Tribute Head I & II are again obscured, as with the Goggle Heads, but this time they are closed in suffering as opposed to hidden behind a mask used to conceal identity.

Tribute Head I & II also display a more refined interpretation of masculinity, the menacing jutted jaw of the Goggle Heads is no longer present and the features take on a more contemplative appearance.

STANDING MAN:

In Standing Man, Frink returned to the idea of man as a figure to be celebrated for his strength and prowess. The sculpture relates to First Man made 20 years earlier, whose pose is filled with vitality. Standing Man’s attitude seems more relaxed, but still retains the confidence that Frink managed to embody in all her figures. Her increasing sophistication as a sculptor is evident when these works are viewed together; First Man’s features are ambiguous and his hands and feet are incomplete, whereas Standing Man has a well defined face and the outline of muscle and bone is evident.