Roland Piché

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Roland Piché (born 21 November 1938 in Hackney, London)[1][2] is a British artist and teacher.[3] He is best known for working in the Abstract style across prints and sculptures, and his work appears in international collections in the UK, Brazil, the United States and Sweden.

Life[edit]

Piché was born in London in 1938 to parents who were from Montreal.[3][4] He attended private school but did not enjoy it.[3] He cites the Festival of Britain exhibition in 1951 as the reason he became interested in sculpture.[3]

Piché began to make a name for himself in the 1960s. He studied at Hornsey College of Art from 1956 to 1960 and then the Royal College of Art from 1960 to 1964.[5][6] He became a part time assistant, working for Henry Moore, in 1963 the same year he exhibited with the New Contemporaries.[5][7]

He was then invited by Bryan Robertson[3] to show alongside such artists as Phillip King, David Annesley, Michael Bolus, Tim Scott, William Tucker and Isaac Witkin at the New Generation Exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery in 1965.[8] This led to him exhibiting at Marlborough Fine Art in 1967 where he was in contact with Francis Bacon who also influenced his work.[3] This show left an impression on another young British sculptor, Stephen Cox, who described Piché's work as "a three-dimensional version of Francis Bacon."[9]

He was photographed by David Bailey for British Vogue.[8][10] Over the past fifty years Piché continued to work alongside teaching and has generated over 600 sculptures and 2,000 paintings.[8]

He taught at Maidstone College of Art along with Antony Gormley.[3]

He has refused to become a Royal Academician on two occasions.[8] He is a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors.[11] He retired from teaching in 2003 and in 2010 married Cherie Harvey.[5]

In 2013 he exhibited at Canterbury Cathedral.[8]

Work[edit]

Piché's work has been noted for its unique combination of both geometric and organic forms.[12] A cage like element was incorporated in many of his early works, such as Sunset and Deposition in a Space Frame. This feature was contextualised in a 1968 exhibition at MoMA, New York as part of a surrealist tradition and evocated comparisons with Seymour Lipton and Alberto Giacometti.[13] This has been described as working within and against the British Modernist tradition while incorporating elements of what Surrealist André Breton described as 'biomorphic forms'.[14] These forms have also been described as 'figurative illusions'.[15] Many of his sculptures were made with polyester resin, fibreglass, aluminium and bronze.[13][16] His sculptural forms are said to reference the work of Francis Bacon.[17] Despite making sculptures incorporating organic looking elements, Piché saw himself as working "against nature" while Henry Moore worked "on its side".[18] Other important influences on him have been Constantin Brâncuși, Auguste Rodin and Michelangelo.[3]

His work is held in a number of British collections such as the Tate, Ferens Art Gallery, University of South Wales, the Arts Council and National Museum Wales.[19][12] In addition his pieces are located internationally in São Paulo Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York and Gothenburg Museum of Art.[5][8] He now works from his studio based in Tollesbury.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Roland Piché | Biography". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  2. ^ "Roland Piché | Artist | Royal Academy of Arts". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Clark, C. "Sound and Moving Image Catalogue". sami.bl.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  4. ^ Berthoud, Roger (2003). The Life of Henry Moore. Giles de la Mare. ISBN 978-1-900357-22-7.
  5. ^ a b c d Design, Fuff. "Roland Piche". www.rolandpiche.com. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  6. ^ "rolandpiche@hotmail.co.uk". sculptors.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  7. ^ The New Generation. Whitechapel Gallery. 1965.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "SCULPT GALLERY : Art and sculpture exhibitions, Essex UK -". www.sculptgallery.com. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  9. ^ "Cox, Stephen. (9 of 32). National Life Story Collection: Artists' Lives - Art - Oral history | British Library - Sounds". sounds.bl.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  10. ^ Design, Fuff. "Roland Piche". www.rolandpiche.com. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  11. ^ "rolandpiche@hotmail.co.uk". sculptors.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  12. ^ a b "Art UK | Discover Artworks". artuk.org. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  13. ^ a b Rubin, William S. (1968). Dada, Surrealism, and their heritage (PDF). Greenwich, Conn.: The Museum of Modern Art. pp. 117, 241.
  14. ^ Arts & Architecture. Arts and Architecture. 1966.
  15. ^ Arts Magazine 1965-12: Vol 40 Iss 2. Internet Archive. Arts Communications Group, L.P. 1965. p. 14.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. ^ The Illustrated London News. William Little. 1967.
  17. ^ Printech. S. K. Thamba. 1964.
  18. ^ Slifkin, Robert (2011). Peabody, Rebecca (ed.). Anglo-American Exchange in Postwar Sculpture, 1945–1975 (PDF). Paul J Getty Museum. p. 66.
  19. ^ Tate. "Roland Piché born 1938". Tate. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
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