David Williams-Ellis
{{short description|British sculptor (born 1959)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = David Williams-Ellis
| image = David Williams-Ellis (cropped).jpg
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age |1959}}
| birth_place = Lisburn, Northern Ireland
| nationality = British
| education = Stowe School
Nerina Simi's
Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design
| occupation = Sculptor
| known for =
| spouse = {{Plainlist|
- Serena Williams-Ellis (divorced)
- {{marriage|Nicola Shale|2017}}}}
| children = 3
| relatives = Clough Williams-Ellis (great uncle)
| website = https://www.dwe.com
}}
David Williams-Ellis (born 1959) is a British sculptor whose primary subject matter is the human figure.{{cite web|title=Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park at The Hutts, Grewelthorpe|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/exhibitions/12924935.Himalayan_Garden_and_Sculpture_Park_at_The_Hutts__Grewelthorpe/|website=York Press}}
Early life and education
Williams-Ellis was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} His great uncle was Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, architect and creator of Portmeirion in North Wales. His cousin was Susan Williams-Ellis, a pottery designer best known for co-founding Portmeirion Pottery.{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Emmanuel |title=Obituary: Susan Williams-Ellis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2008/jan/28/2 |accessdate=17 July 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=28 January 2008}}
Williams-Ellis was educated at Stowe School, Buckinghamshire.{{cite web|title=OS Sculptor David Williams-Ellis|url=https://www.corinthian.online/os-sculptor-david-williams-ellis/|website=The Corinthian Online}}
On leaving school, in 1977, he trained under Nerina Simi, in Florence, who taught him to observe the details within a face, the way a person's clothes hung and the details within buildings.{{cite web|title=I giganti di David Williams-Ellis hanno un'anima italiana|url=http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/cultura/2013-07-23/xxxxxxxxx-foto-210049.shtml?uuid=Abf1MsGI|publisher=Il Sole 24 Ore}}
Career
In 1978 he received the Elizabeth T. Greenshield Foundation Award and he was able to work and study with the marble craftsmen of Carrara in Pietrasanta.{{cite web|title=Sculptor David Williams-Ellis on studying in Italy and why he never eats in restaurants|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/11250062/Sculptor-David-Williams-Ellis-on-studying-in-Italy-and-why-he-never-eats-in-restaurants.html|website=The Daily Telegraph|date=28 November 2014}} He was heavily influenced by the early and high Renaissance and Italian art in general, as well as the architecture and visual excitement of Italy. In 1981 he returned to London to attend the Sir John Cass School of Art (now the Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design).{{cite web|title=Raising funds for a larger-than-life a large statue of Sir Kyffin Williams at his local gallery|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/raising-funds-larger-than-life-large-statue-2051876|website=Wales Online|date=31 May 2012}}
In 1993 Williams-Ellis was elected as a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art.{{cite web|title=Members|url=http://rcaconwy.org/members|publisher=Royal Cambrian Academy}}
Williams-Ellis' exhibition, entitled Elemental, was held at the Portland Gallery in December 2014.{{cite web|title=Sinuous sculpture by David Williams-Ellis|url=https://howtospendit.ft.com/art-philanthropy/76121-sinuous-sculpture-by-david-williams-ellis|work=Financial Times|date=4 February 2015}}
Williams-Ellis' most recent exhibition, entitled D-Day Soldiers, was held at the Portland Gallery in June 2019.{{Cite web|url=http://www.portlandgallery.com/exhibitions/669/about/david-williams-ellis|title=David Williams-Ellis About Exhibition|website=Portland Gallery}}{{Cite web|url=https://howtospendit.ft.com/articles/206428-poignant-sculpture-commemorates-the-75th-anniversary-of-the-d-day-landings|title=Poignant sculpture commemorates the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings|first=Beatrice|last=Aidin|date=4 June 2019|website=howtospendit.ft.com}}
Notable public commissions
In 2021, Williams-Ellis was commissioned by Manchester City Football Club to create a sculpture celebrating Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee and the major influence they had on the club in their 'Golden Era' of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The commission is part of a series of tributes to key figures forming the Club’s legacy project, first announced in 2019 and directed by Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak. The Sculpture was unveiled on 28 November 2023 and is located on the West perimeter in front of the main entrance to the Etihad Stadium.{{Cite web |last=Man City |first=Editorial |date=23 November 2023 |title=BELL, LEE AND SUMMERBEE: TRIBUTE SCULPTOR REVEALED |url=https://www.mancity.com/news/club/manchester-city-bell-lee-and-summerbee-statues-sculptor-revealed-63836265 |access-date=1 December 2023 |website=Man City}}
Williams-Ellis was commissioned by the Normandy Memorial Trust to create the D-Day sculpture to commemorate the 22,443 British and Commonwealth soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who died during the landings and thereafter. It will be the centre-piece of the memorial park's official inauguration and will occupy a position on the forecourt of the memorial, designed by architect Liam O’Connor, against the backdrop of Gold Beach. The sculpture was unveiled on 6 June 2019, the 75th anniversary of the landings.{{Cite web|url=http://www.normandymemorialtrust.org/news-story/british-normandy-memorial-design-revealed/|title=The British Normandy Memorial design revealed|website=Normandy Memorial Trust}}
Williams-Ellis was selected by Aberdeen City Council to create a sculpture to commemorate and celebrate all the men and women who have served in the city's fishing industry.{{Cite web|url=https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/statue-commemorating-fishing-heritage-will-be-unveiled-in-city-next-week/|title=Statue commemorating Aberdeen fishing heritage to be unveiled|first=Karen|last=Roberts}} It consists of two life-size sculptures, a fisherwoman and a fisherman, that stand outside the Aberdeen Maritime Museum. It was unveiled on 27 June 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen/1508621/permanent-fishing-memorial-unveiled-in-aberdeen/|title=Permanent fishing memorial unveiled in Aberdeen|first=James|last=Wyllie}}
In 2016 Williams-Ellis was commissioned by the Eden Rivers Trust to sculpt two, over life-size, bronzes of a cock and hen salmon. These were to be sold by the trust to raise money to support their campaign and fundraising initiatives to save the wild salmon and stop their decline, in both the River Eden and other rivers across Britain.{{cite web|title=Art Helping Life|url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/trout-salmon-uk/20180208/282462824369742|website=Trout And Salmon}}
In 2013 Williams-Ellis was commissioned to sculpt an over life size bronze of T. E. Lawrence to commemorate the 80th anniversary of his death to be displayed at Snowdon Lodge,{{cite web|title=Village marks death of TE Lawrence|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-32795661|website=BBC News|date=19 May 2015}} Lawrence's birthplace.{{cite web|last1=Crump|first1=Eryl|title=North Wales village set to mark 80th anniversary of death of Lawrence of Arabia|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/north-wales-village-set-mark-9142897|website=WalesOnline|date=30 April 2015}}
Commissioned by Mary Yapp of the Albany Gallery, Kyffin Williams's agent in Wales, to sculpt an over life size bronze of Kyffin Williams for Oriel Ynys Môn, where the Kyffin Williams Collection is housed.{{cite web|last1=Crump|first1=Eryl|title=Sir Kyffin Williams painting could go for as much as £50k|url=https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/sir-kyffin-williams-painting-could-4749278|website=Daily Post|date=29 June 2013}}
Commissioned in 2008 to sculpt Ray Gravell, the 10-ton statue now stands outside the south stand of the Parc y Scarlets.{{cite web|title=Ray Gravell's family unveil statue in Llanelli|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/ray-gravells-family-unveil-statue-2080811|website=WalesOnline|date=5 September 2009}}
Personal life
Williams-Ellis was married to the interior designer Serena Williams-Ellis, and they have three children together, Hugo, Phoebe, and Jack. In 2014, he lived near Penrith in Cumbria.
In 2016, he moved to Oxfordshire, and in April 2017, he married Nicola "Nikki" Shale (née Burrows) {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE}} (b. 1956), widow of politician Christopher Shale.{{cite web |title=David Williams-Ellis (Temple 77) |url=https://www.corinthian.online/david-williams-ellis-temple-77-2/ |website=The Corinthian |accessdate=28 March 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Goodman |first1=Pamela |title=The Welsh home of David Williams-Ellis, the sculptor behind the new D-Day memorial |url=https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/david-williams-ellis-d-day-memorial-sculpture |website=House & Garden |accessdate=28 March 2020}} She is the mother of Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, the husband of Princess Beatrice of York, by her first marriage to Alex Mapelli-Mozzi, a former British Olympian.{{cite web |last1=Foussianes |first1=C |title=Who Is Princess Beatrice's New Boyfriend, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi|url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a25237503/edoardo-mapelli-mozzi-facts/ |magazine=Town and Country Magazine |publisher=Hearst Magazine Media, Inc |year= 2019 |accessdate=13 March 2019 |quote= ..at London's National Portrait Gallery...Mozzi's father is Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi}}{{cite web |last=Spranklen |first=Annabelle|date=23 August 2019 |title=Meet Italian millionaire Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi: Princess Beatrice's boyfriend |url=https://www.tatler.com/article/princess-beatrice-new-boyfriend-edoardo-mapelli-mozzi |website=Tatler|accessdate=18 September 2019 |quote=despite his Italian heritage, Mozzi is fully integrated into British society, having attended Radley College and Edinburgh University.}}{{cite web |title=Country Life|volume=199 |issue=41|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w5NMAAAAYAAJ&q=Mapelli+++Mozzi |date=13 October 2005 |quote=Countess Natalia Mapelli Mozzi, aged 24, is the daughter of Count Atessandro Mapelli Mozzi, of St Antonin du Var, France, and of Mrs Christopher Shale, of Hundley House. Her brother, Count Edoardo, is...}}{{cite news |title=Love in High Places |url=https://www.pressreader.com/ |newspaper=The Telegraph|date=20 November 2018|accessdate=13 March 2019 |quote=...though the romance is new, the friendship is not...Edo is a count himself...|page=453}}{{cite web |title=The Royalty, Peerage and Aristocracy of the World, Volume 90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4FRmAAAAMAAJ&q=Count+Mapelli++Mozzi |publisher=Annuaire de France|year=1967 |accessdate=13 March 2019 |quote=MAPELLI MOZZI, Count (m)...(Italy)...Noble: Count Edouard Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi (known as Edo) was born in Westminster, 1 November 1983, son of Count Alessandro (Alex) Mapelli Mozzi, and his former wife the former Nicola D. Burrows.}} His wife was awarded an MBE for political service as part of the 2016 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/31/donors-aides-and-remainers-dominate-secret-cameron-honours-list|title=Donors, aides and remainers dominate secret Cameron honours list|last=Siddique|first=Haroon|date=31 July 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=26 September 2019}}
References
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Category:British male sculptors
Category:21st-century British sculptors
Category:20th-century British sculptors
Category:People educated at Stowe School
Category:20th-century British male artists