Graham Ibbeson
{{Short description|British artist and sculptor (born 1951)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
File:Eric Morecambe statue - Morecambe, Lancashire, England.jpg in Morecambe, Lancashire]]
File:Arthur Aaron by Ibbeson1.jpg in Leeds]]
Graham Ibbeson {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}} (born 1951) is a British artist and sculptor, known for the realistic figurative sculptures he has created for public commissions in the United Kingdom.
Biography
Ibbeson was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, and from 1972 to 1973 attended Leicester Polytechnic.{{cite book|author=David Buckman|publisher=Art Dictionaries Ltd|year=2006|title=Artists in Britain Since 1945 Vol 1, A to L |isbn=0-953260-95-X}}
From 1973 to 1975 he studied at Trent Polytechnic in Nottingham before spending three years at the Royal College of Art in London. While still a student there Ibbeson won commissions from both the Commonwealth Institute and the London Symphony Orchestra and in 1978 received the Madame Tussaud Award for Figurative Art. Exhibitions of his work have been held at the Nottingham Castle Museum, at the Royal College of Art Gallery in London, at the Olanda Kelly Gallery in Chicago and, frequently, at the Nicholas Treadwell Gallery in London.
Ibbeson has created bronze sculptures in towns and cities across Britain including of Fred Trueman in Skipton, Don Revie in Leeds,{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-17961398|title=Don Revie statue unveiled 40 years after FA Cup victory
|website=BBC |date=5 May 2012|access-date=7 February 2021}} of Thomas Chippendale in Otley, and others in Cardiff, Dover, Barnsley, Doncaster, Northampton, Chesterfield, Middlesbrough, Perth and Rugby.
One of Ibbeson's most famous pieces is the Statue of Eric Morecambe, which stands in the comedian's seaside hometown of Morecambe, Lancashire and which was unveiled by the Queen. In 2001 Ibbeson's statue of Arthur Louis Aaron (recipient of the Victoria Cross) was erected in Leeds.{{cite web|url=http://www.leedscivictrust.org.uk/aaron.htm|title=The Arthur Aaron Statue|website=Leeds Civic Trust|accessdate=6 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704054855/http://www.leedscivictrust.org.uk/aaron.htm|archive-date=4 July 2007|url-status=dead}} His bronze statue of Cary Grant was unveiled in 2001 in Millennium Square in Grant's hometown of Bristol.{{cite news|title=Bristol celebrates Hollywood 'son'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1698067.stm|newspaper=BBC News|date=8 December 2001}} Ibbeson has also sculpted Laurel and Hardy; the bronze statue was erected in Laurel's home town of Ulverston in April 2009.{{cite news|title=Laurel and Hardy statue prompts call for a halt to UK's local hero bronzes|url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/apr/19/celebrity-statues-britain-art |work=The Guardian|date=16 August 2007}} Another commission was a statue of Benny Hill for the comedian's hometown of Southampton.{{Cite web |url=http://grahamibbeson.com/content.html |title=Graham Ibbeson Sculptor |access-date=2012-08-14 |archive-date=2012-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529072618/http://www.grahamibbeson.com/content.html |url-status=dead }}
References
External links
{{Commons category-inline|Graham Ibbeson}}
- {{Art UK bio}}
- [http://grahamibbeson.com/ Official website]
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Category:20th-century British sculptors
Category:20th-century English male artists
Category:21st-century British sculptors
Category:21st-century English male artists
Category:Alumni of De Montfort University
Category:Alumni of Nottingham Trent University
Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Art
Category:English male sculptors