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Andy Goldsworthy
The Neuberger Cairn (2001), a permanent sculpture by Andy Goldsworthy at the Neuberger Museum of Art of the State University of New York at Purchase in New York
Born	26 July 1956 (1956-07-26) (age 53) Cheshire, England
Nationality	British
Field	Sculpture; photography
Training	Bradford College of Art (1974–1975); Preston Polytechnic (now University of Central Lancashire) (1975–1978)
Movement	Environmental art and land art
Influenced by	Constantin Brancusi; Richard Long; Robert Smithson; Joseph Beuys; Ben Nicholson; Paul Nash; David Nash
Awards	Scottish Arts Council Award (1987); honorary degree from the University of Bradford (1993); OBE (2000)

Andy Goldsworthy (born 26 July 1956) is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist living in Scotland who produces site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. His art involves the use of natural and found objects, to create both temporary and permanent sculptures which draw out the character of their environment.

Biography

The son of F. Allin Goldsworthy (1929–2001), former professor of applied mathematics at the University of Leeds, Andy Goldsworthy was born on 26 July 1956 in Cheshire^[1] and grew up on the Harrogate side of Leeds, West Yorkshire, in a house edging the green belt. From the age of 13 he worked on farms as a labourer. He has likened the repetitive quality of farm tasks to the routine of making sculpture: "A lot of my work is like picking potatoes; you have to get into the rhythm of it."^[2]

He studied fine art at Bradford College of Art (1974–1975) and at Preston Polytechnic (1975–1978)^[1] (now the University of Central Lancashire) in Preston, Lancashire, receiving his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from the latter.^[3]

A view of the trees and landscape surrounding the cairn.

After leaving college, Goldsworthy lived in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. In 1985 he moved to Langholm in Dumfries and Galloway, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and a year later to Penpont. It has been said that his gradual drift northwards was "due to a way of life over which he did not have complete control", but that contributing factors were opportunities and desires to work in these areas and "reasons of economy".^[4]

In 1993 he was conferred an honorary degree by the University of Bradford. He is currently an A.D. White Professor-At-Large at Cornell University.^[5]

He is the subject of a 2001 documentary feature film Rivers and Tides, directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer.^[6]

Artistic style

The materials used in Andy Goldsworthy's art often include brightly-coloured flowers, icicles, leaves, mud, pinecones, snow, stone, twigs, and thorns. He has been quoted as saying, "I think it's incredibly brave to be working with flowers and leaves and petals. But I have to: I can't edit the materials I work with. My remit is to work with nature as a whole."^[7] Goldsworthy is generally considered the founder of modern rock balancing. For his ephemeral works, Goldsworthy often uses only his bare hands, teeth, and found tools to prepare and arrange the materials; however, for his permanent sculptures like "Roof", "Stone River" and "Three Cairns", "Moonlit Path" (Petworth, West Sussex, 2002) and "Chalk Stones" in the South Downs, near West Dean, West Sussex he has also employed the use of machine tools. To create "Roof", Goldsworthy worked with his assistant and five British dry-stone wallers, who were used to make sure the structure could withstand time and nature.

Photography plays a crucial role in his art due to its often ephemeral and transient state. According to Goldsworthy, "Each work grows, stays, decays – integral parts of a cycle which the photograph shows at its heights, marking the moment when the work is most alive. There is an intensity about a work at its peak that I hope is expressed in the image. Process and decay are implicit."^[8]

Goldsworthy produced a commissioned work for the entry courtyard of San Francisco's De Young Museum called "Drawn Stone", which echoes San Francisco's frequent earthquakes and their effects. His installation included a giant crack in the pavement that broke off into smaller cracks, and broken limestone, which could be used for benches. The smaller cracks were made with a hammer adding unpredictability to the work as he created it. ^[9]

Awards

• 1979 – North West Arts Award
• 1980 – Yorkshire Arts Award
• 1981 – Northern Arts Award
• 1982 – Northern Arts Award
• 1986 – Northern Arts Bursary
• 1987 – Scottish Arts Council Award
• 1989 – Northern Electricity Arts Award^[3]
• 2000 – Appointed officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)^[2]

Publications

• photoworks by Andy Goldsworthy. (1985). Rain, Sun, Snow, Hail, Mist, Calm : Photoworks by Andy Goldsworthy. Leeds: Henry Moore Centre for the Study of Sculpture. ISBN 0-9019-8124-9.  
• Andy Goldsworthy. (1988). Parkland. [Yorkshire]: Yorkshire Sculpture Park. ISBN 1-8714-8000-0.  
• Andy Goldsworthy. (1989). Touching North. London: Fabian Carlsson. ISBN 0-9482-7406-9.  
• Andy Goldsworthy. (1989). Leaves. London: Common Ground. ISBN 1-8703-6407-4.  
• Andy Goldsworth. (1990). Andy Goldsworthy. London: Viking. ISBN 0-6708-3213-8.   Republished as Andy Goldsworthy. (1990). Andy Goldsworthy : A Collaboration with Nature. New York, N.Y.: H.N. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3351-9.  
• Andy Goldsworthy. (1992). Ice and Snow Drawings : 1990–1992. Edinburgh: FruitMarket Gallery. ISBN 0-947912-06-1.  
• Goldsworthy, Andy; Terry Friedman (1993). Hand to Earth : Andy Goldsworthy Sculpture, 1976–1990. New York, N.Y.: H.N. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3420-5.  
• Andy Goldsworthy. (1994). Stone. London: Viking. ISBN 0-6708-5478-6.  
• text and photographs by Andy Goldsworthy (1995). Black Stones, Red Pools : Dumfriesshire Winter 1994–5. London: Pro Arte Foundation in association with Michael Hue-Williams Fine Art Ltd. & Galerie Lelong, N.Y. ISBN 0-9525-4570-5.  
• Goldsworthy, Andy; Steve Chettle; Paul Nesbitt & Andrew Humphries (1996). Sheepfolds. London: Michael Hue-Williams Fine Art Ltd.  
• Andy Goldsworthy ; introduction by Terry Friedman. (1996). Wood. London: Viking. ISBN 0-6708-7137-0.  
• Goldsworthy, Andy; David Craig (1999). Arch. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-5000-1933-9.  
• Andy Goldsworthy. Chronology by Terry Friedman. (2000). Time. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-5005-1026-1.  
• Goldsworthy, Andy; Jerry L. Thompson & Storm King Art Center (2000). Wall at Storm King. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-5000-1991-6.  
• Andy Goldsworthy. Introduction by Judith Collins. (2001). Midsummer Snowballs. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-5005-1065-2.  
• Andy Goldsworthy. (2002). Andy Goldsworthy : Refuges D'Art. Lyon; Digne, France: Editions Artha; Musée départemental de Digne. ISBN 2-8484-5001-0.  
• Andy Goldsworthy. (2004). Passage. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-5005-1191-8.  
• Andy Goldsworthy. (2007). Enclosure. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-5000-9336-9.  

Major exhibitions and installations

Image	Dates	Title	Location
	1996–2003	Sheepfolds	Cumbria, England, UK
	22 May – 15 November 2000	Andy Goldsworthy at Storm King Art Center[10] (featuring the installation Storm King Wall)	Storm King Art Center Mountainville, Cornwall, New York, USA
	August 2001	Stone River[11]	Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University Stanford, California, USA
	2002	Andy Goldsworthy Arch at Goodwood[12]	Cass Sculpture Foundation Goodwood, West Sussex, England, UK
	2002	Chalk Stones Trail	South Downs near West Dean, West Sussex
	4 May – 31 October 2004	Andy Goldsworthy on the Roof[13] (featuring the installation Stone Houses)	Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York City, New York, USA
	2005	Andy Goldsworthy: Early Works A national touring exhibition from the Haywood Gallery[14]	England, United Kingdom
	2005	Drawn Stone[15]	M. H. de Young Memorial Museum San Francisco, California, USA
	22 January – 15 May 2005	The Andy Goldsworthy Project[16] (including the installation Roof)[17]	National Gallery of Art National Mall, Washington, D.C., USA
	2006	Red sandstone wall at the Doerr-Hosier Center[18]	Aspen Institute Aspen, Colorado, USA
	31 March 2007 – 6 January 2008	Andy Goldsworthy[19]	Yorkshire Sculpture Park West Bretton, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, UK
	October 2008	Spire[20]	Park Presidio San Francisco, California, USA
	June 2009	Provence art trail[21]	Provence France

Personal life

In 1982, Goldsworthy married Judith Gregson. They had four children and settled in the village of Penpont in the region of Dumfries and Galloway, Dumfriesshire, in southwest Scotland. He now lives there with his partner, Tina Fiske, an art historian whom he met when she came to work with him a few years after he separated from his wife.^[2]

Quotations

• "I find some of my new works disturbing, just as I find nature as a whole disturbing. The landscape is often perceived as pastoral, pretty, beautiful – something to be enjoyed as a backdrop to your weekend before going back to the nitty-gritty of urban life. But anybody who works the land knows it's not like that. Nature can be harsh – difficult and brutal, as well as beautiful. You couldn't walk five minutes from here without coming across something that is dead or decaying."^[7]
• "One of the beauties of art is that it reflects an artist's entire life. What I've learned over the past 30 years is really beginning to inform what I make. I hope that process continues until I die."^[7]

See also

• Environmental art
• Environmental sculpture
• Greenmuseum.org
• Land art
• Rock balancing

Notes

References

• Adams, Tim (2007-03-11). "Natural talent". The Observer. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2031027,00.html.  
• Biography of Andy Goldsworthy at the Cass Sculpture Foundation
• Biography of Andy Goldsworthy at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
• Sooke, Alastair (2007-03-24). "He's got the whole world in his hands". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/03/24/bagoldsworthy124.xml.  

Further reading

Articles:

• Beyst, Stefan (June 2002). "Andy Goldsworthy: The beauty of creation". http://d-sites.net/english/goldsworthy.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-24.  
• Moore, Robbie. "Goldsworthy in stone". Specifier Magazine. http://www.specifier.com.au/pastissues/view/detailed/c/GoldsworthyinStone/id/6070. Retrieved 2007-06-24.  

Books:

• Malpas, William (1995). Andy Goldsworthy: Touching Nature. Kidderminster: Crescent Moon. ISBN 1861710496 (pbk.).  
• Malpas, William (1998). The Art of Andy Goldsworthy. Kidderminster: Crescent Moon. ISBN 1861710321 (pbk.).  
• Malpas, William (2003). Andy Goldsworthy in Close-Up. Maidstone, Kent: Crescent Moon. ISBN 186171050X.  
• Malpas, William (2008). Andy Goldsworthy: Pocket Guide. Maidstone, Kent: Crescent Moon. ISBN 9781861712417.  

External links

General:

• Andy Goldsworthy at the Cass Sculpture Foundation
• Andy Goldsworthy at artnet
• Andy Goldsworthy's 1980s work with Common Ground, a UK charity and lobby group promoting local distinctiveness
• Andy Goldsworthy working on Drawn Stone on KQED's TV programme Spark (June 2005)

Art:

• Online preview of the Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue DVD Volume 1: 1976-1986. A collaborative effort involving Goldsworthy, The Crichton Foundation, and the University of Glasgow's Crichton Campus and Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII). The DVD documents, visually and textually, the first ten years of Goldsworthy's ephemeral outdoor practice. It replicates Goldsworthy's "Slide Cabinet Index", and includes previously unpublished material from "Goldsworthy's Sketchbook Diaries".
• "Wet feathers/Wrapped around a stone/Before the incoming tide, Carrick" (1999). Photograph from the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
• "Snowballs in Summer" (2000), photographed in Charterhouse Square and Smithfield Market in Smithfield, London, UK. Photographs from the Conway Collection, Courtauld Institute of Art, London.
• "Three Cairns" (2002), Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, US.
• Photographs by Andy Goldsworthy in the UK Government Art Collection.
• Photographs of Andy Goldsworthy's sculptures at Flickr
• Andy Goldsworthy's Portfolio at the Cass Sculpture Foundation
• SaveLandArt.org - Media Initiatives to Protect Land Art from Urbanization, Industry and Overcuration.
• EarthArtists.org - listings of Earth, Land, and Eco-artists.
• Visiting the "Spire"

From Wikiquote

My work comes first, reasons for it follow.

Andy Goldsworthy (born 26 July 1956) is a British artist and photographer famous for his site specific sculpture and land art.

Sourced

You must have something new in a landscape as well as something old, something that's dying and something that's being born.

• My work comes first, reasons for it follow.
  • "Residency on Earth" in Art in America (April, 1995)

• Ephemeral work made outside, for and about a day, lies at the core of my art and its making must be kept private.
  • "Residency on Earth" in Art in America (April, 1995)

• You must have something new in a landscape as well as something old, something that's dying and something that's being born.
  • "Searching for the window into nature's soul" Smithsonian magazine (February 1997)

• A snowball is simple, direct and familiar to most of us. I use this simplicity as a container for feelings and ideas that function on many levels. Occasionally I have come across a last patch of snow on top of a mountain in late May or June. There's something very powerful about finding snow in summer. It's as if the whole of winter has drained through that white hole — a concentration of winter.
  • Interview with Conrad Bodman, curator at the Barbican Arts Centre (2001)

Ideas must be put to the test. That's why we make things, otherwise they would be no more than ideas.

• Ideas must be put to the test. That's why we make things, otherwise they would be no more than ideas. There is often a huge difference between an idea and its realisation. I've had what I thought were great ideas that just didn't work. Sometimes it's difficult to say if something has worked or not. Photography is a way of putting distance between myself and the work which sometimes helps me to see more clearly what it is that I have made.
  • Interview with Conrad Bodman, curator at the Barbican Arts Centre (2001)

• Movement, change, light, growth, and decay are the life-blood of nature, the energies that I try to tap through my work.
  • Stone River Enters Stanford University's Outdoor Art Collection (4 September 2001)

• My sculpture can last for days or a few seconds — what is important to me is the experience of making. I leave all my work outside and often return to watch it decay.
  • "Stone River Enters Stanford University's Outdoor Art Collection" (4 September 2001)

Quotes of others about Goldsworthy

• One of the most engaging artists to emerge from Great Britain in the last decade. ~ Art in America

• The skepticism of the art establishment seems to be based on, as much as anything, a kind of big-city prejudice against work so free from urban angst. ~ Lynn Macritchie in Art in America (April 1995)

• A new kind of poetry is created when Andy Goldsworthy works with stone, wood and water — our world never looks quite the same again ~ "Searching for the window into nature's soul", Smithsonian magazine (February 1997)

External links

Wikipedia has an article about:

Andy Goldsworthy

• Hampshire exhibition writeup (BBC)
• Wiltshire exhibition writeup (BBC)
• Snowballs In Summer at EyeStorm
• Brief article at Sweet Briar College
• "Searching for the window into nature's soul" - Smithsonian magazine (February 1997)
• Goldsworthy at Sculpture.org
  • Brief biography
  • Portfolio
• Image search with Google
• Galerie Lelong - For images and biography

Exhibitions:

• Storm King Art Center
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• Courtauld Institute of Art
• Artnet
• Government Art Collection (UK)