Tony Bentley
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Tony Bentley Tony Bentley was born in Darwen, grew up in Langho and now lives and works in Great Harwood. He is a self taught sculptor, working mainly in hand-carved stone. Tony's work is immediately engaging. Every piece has it's own personality and sense of playfulness. “As an establishing Lancashire artist Tony's is definitely one to watch and Revolve Gallery are proud to be the first gallery to display this exceptionally talented sculptor. Every piece of his work is distinctive, comical and engaging. “ Sophia Smith, Revolve Gallery Background Tony studied graphic design at Blackburn College and since leaving has working in the industry as a designer, cartoonist and illustrator. A career in this fast-paced, deadline driven job, left him with an appreciation of more time-intensive processes. Fine-art has always been his true passion, which, until recently was fulfilled in his spare time. He has now taken the plunge to work full-time on his art. Inspiration “A visit to the Barbara Hepworth museum had a profound and mesmerizing effect on me; it opened my eyes to the world of sculpture. On reflection the work of Eric Gill has also had a big influence, having first come to my attention in my design career through typography. Eric's sculpture and relief work proved the perfect encouragement that these paths are not mutually exclusive. Although it is important for me not to feel constrained to a specific subject all of my sculpture is figurative. Mostly taking inspiration from the 'human condition'. A number of the sculptures depict a kind of reverse-anthropomorphism, where rather than attributing human form or qualities to an animal it's the animal traits in humans that prevail. Although it seems to me more unfair on the animals, we all know someone who could be described as a shark or a snake. Some may even recognise their inner donkey. My work is observational, sometimes even introspective. One quality that is always present is a sense of playfulness.” To Stone “Although I use other materials in my sculpture, there is something special about stone – the tremendous forces that created it, the sheer age, variety and feel of it makes it such a great medium to work in. It is a wonderful sense of achievement to take a rough looking piece of stone and work it until the beauty of the stone is revealed.”
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