Blake Ward

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Blake Ward (b. 1956) is a Canadian sculptor.

1 Education
2 Early Professional Work
3 Vietnam and the Witness Collection
4 Recent Work and Fragments
5 MOTIVE Art
6 List of Exhibitions
7 See also
8 External Links

[edit] Education

Blake's artistic life began during the 1970s in the University of Alberta, Western Canada, amid the explosion of the modern art movement. Under the influence of his University professor, who was a student of Anthony Caro, Blake began creating abstract steel sculptures that concentrated on spatial relationships, volume, and positive and negative form. As with many artists working during this period, his art was also affected by the leading art critic Clement Greenberg.

Towards the end of Blake's university years, he moved away from the abstract work and focused on creating figurative sculpture. His search for formal training in figurative sculpture led him to Paris, where he studied for four years. The city of Paris became a creative inspiration for Blake and the works of Houdon, Rodin, and Carpeaux all become important artistic influences.

1975 - History of Art British Academy, Rome, Italy
1975-1979 - Honours Degree in Sculpture, University of Alberta, Canada
1986-1989 - Apprentice: figurative sculpture, Studio of Cyril Heck, Paris, France

[edit] Early Professional Work

When Blake began his career as a professional artist, he created multiple series of sculptures based on dance, women, and mythology. In later work, Blake gravitated towards political commentary inspired by censorship in China and the murder of Aldo Moro in Italy. In 1989, Blake produced one of his first politically inspired sculptures, contrasting the fall of the Berlin wall with the silencing of the pro-democracy movement in Tienanmen Square, China.

Other influences in Blake's artistic development were his experiences in Italy, Greece, and Turkey. During his visits there, he became aware of the complex artistic treatments of the human figure throughout history. In particular, Blake was inspired by the fragmented sculptures that had been damaged by the continuous cycle of wars from the ancient Greek and Roman periods. These archaeological remains illustrated to him the reality of war, the lack of glory in destruction, and the surviving nature of man.

[edit] Vietnam and the Witness Collection

Blake's fragmented work not only reaches into antiquity but also draws from his period of teaching in Vietnam. In November 2003, at the invitation of the Hanoi Fine Arts University, Blake became the first westerner to teach in the official curriculum since 1945. During this time, Blake traveled throughout Vietnam and into Cambodia, witnessing the continuing effects of a war that had ended over 25 years before. "What touched me was that they were still living the war I had watched on television as a child. These images had lived on somewhere in my mind and here was the evidence that this war is still taking casualties."

The intense daily media coverage of the Vietnam war in Canada and the USA, with its powerful imagery of military action, deeply affected Blake. His family also became involved some years later when the family business, the airline "Wardair Canada" helped in the Canadian government rehabilitation program, by carrying up to 32,000 refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia to Canada.

Blake's connection to Vietnam also continues to this day, with his involvement in the Witness Collection - an outstanding collection of contemporary Vietnamese fine art, which illustrates both changes in life and the evolution of society in Vietnam over the past 80 years. The organization is also involved in other aspects of the arts in Vietnam: research and education, arts conservation, arts development, and cultural exchanges.

"My original search for beauty is an adventure that has led finally to the need for my artwork to make a statement beyond beauty. My goal is to create sculptures that provoke and encourage the interrogation of society. My art is humanistic, representational and investigative."

[edit] Recent Work and Fragments

Blake currently resides in the Principality of Monaco, where his first public sculpture was installed in 1994. This monumental work, consisting of three life size figures, was the first of five sculptures on permanent public display. Blake's work has since been exhibited in numerous cities across Canada, France, Germany, and the United States.

Blake's most recent work comes from his creation of and involvement in the Motive art movement. His Fragments collection is a group of original one quarter life-size figures, produced in bronze alloy, using the Ceramic Shell process of the Lost Wax method of casting. These sculptures are being sold in aid of landmine clearance and victim support by The No More Landmines Trust

[edit] MOTIVE Art

Blake Ward is the founder of the Motive Art web site promoting art that has a social conscience. It is not a style, but a belief. A belief that artists can play a much bigger role in helping to make the world a better place. Motive is about how art can make a difference in our world. Artists don't just make a statement through their work, they make an active commitment to change by donating their time or their work to charity.

[edit] List of Exhibitions

Year	Exhibition
1975	Group Exposition, "The Canadian Arctic", Arctic Art Gallery, Yellowknife, NWT, Canada
1979	Graduating Exhibition, University of Alberta Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
1982	Studio Exhibition, Niagara Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1989	Studio Exhibition, Sculptors in Greater Manchester Area (S.I.G.M.A.), Old Hulm Hall Road, Manchester, England
1990	Group Exposition "101st Salon Des Artistes Independants", Grand Palais, Paris, France
1991	Studio Exhibition, Liberty Street, Toronto Ontario, Canada
1992	Monaco Fine Arts Gallery, Place du Casino, Monte-Carlo, Monaco
1993	Group Exposition "Festival Des Arts", Beaulieu-Sur-Mer, France
1993	Gallery Exposition, Galerie du Ruisseau, Paris, France
1994	Les Atlantes, Public Installation, Fontvieille, Monaco
1994	Skulpturenpark, Herzogin Diane, Altshausen Wurttemberg, Germany
1995	The Bather and 1989 Emerging Continents, Public Installation, Monaco
1996	Group Exhibition, "The Portrait", Museum of Menton, Menton, France
1997	Gallery Exhibition, Gildo Pastor Centre Gallery, Fontvieille, Monaco
1998	L'Messenger, Public Installation, Fontvieille, Monaco
2000	L'Eveil, Public Installation, Place des Moulins, Monte Carlo, Monaco
2001	Studio Exhibition, Rue des Violettes, Monte-Carlo, Monaco
2002	Group Exhibition "Adam et Eve" Auction for the Monegasque Association Against Muscular Dystrophy, Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo, Monaco
2003	Solo Exhibition, "The Spirit and the Figure", Banque du Gothard, Monte Carlo, Monaco
2004	Guest Professor, Fine Arts University of Hanoi, Vietnam
2005	Decoration for the opera "Faust", Grimaldi Forum, L'Association des Amis de l'Opera, Monte Carlo, Monaco
2006	Guest Professor, Fine Arts University of Hanoi, Vietnam
2007	Fragments Exhibition, Royal Opera Arcade, London
2007	Fragments, Haberdashers Hall, City of London, UK
2007	Fragments, The London Stock Exchange, City of London, UK
2007	Fragments, The Smithfield Gallery, City of London, UK
2007	Fragments, Hotel Marriott, London, UK
2007	Fragments, Cinema Verite, Monte Carlo, Monaco
2007	Fragments, Chapter House, Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Kent, UK
2007	Fragments, 5 Pall Mall, London, UK
2007	Fragments, Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London, UK
2008	Fragments, Chelsea Arts Tower, W25th Street, New York, NY
2008	Fragments, Saint Ethelburga’s, Bishops Gate, London UK