JOHN FARNHAM

John Farnham was born in Perry Green and as a child accompanied his father who was building studios for Henry Moore practically next door. After a lengthy apprenticeship with Moore, John went on to become his valued assistant, checking his sculpture at the foundries, and with Malcolm Woodward enlarged, finished and patinated much of Henry Moore's work. He also helped with the planning and installation of exhibitions all over the world for over forty years, making him Moore's longest serving assistant.

It was natural that John Farnham's earliest sculptures should be influenced by his employer, though the younger man's work was bolder and simpler. In recent times he has found his own style, in which there is a delicate balance between form and subject. He is clearly fascinated by texture and his carvings exhibit the full range of finishes from coarseness to high polish. His work is tactile in the extreme. He has a special gift for exploiting the specific qualities of any material he chooses. His acute awareness of material came from Moore.

He summarises his deeply felt approach to his work: "My work can be described as abstract with figurative elements. I am particularly interested in human and animal shapes. The abstraction often comes about by depicting distorted shapes, for example those formed by shadows. My carvings are mostly done in British stones and with bronzes I pay particular attention to the patination and finish of the work."

JAMES COPPER

At an early age James Copper was introduced to The Henry Moore Foundation by John Farnham, his godfather. Later on he became an assistant at The Foundation and now works there as "sculpture conservator".

James Copper's work is truly personal and he finds it very difficult to put into words what his inspiration has been. There are sometimes clues given in his choice of title for the piece; the naming of each piece can be an important part of his own process of understanding. Many are given names which describe their appearance, these names are given to describe their "state" and to encourage contemplation of the subject and emotion being portrayed.

While his influences are clear in the sensitive use of stone, the sensual curves of the figurative shapes, the simplified human features and elegant lines, his meaning can be hidden. He does not believe it necessary to understand or even be aware of these influences, of any intellectual background, or his own personal meanings, to appreciate his work.

DEREK HOWARTH

Having gained an Honours Degree in sculpture, Derek Howarth worked as assistant to Henry Moore, increasing his knowledge of working on large sculptural pieces and during the ensuing years returning from time to time to execute large projects for Henry Moore in polystyrene, a medium which he is proud to have introduced Henry Moore to. He also taught for some years at Norwich School of Art before becoming a freelance sculptor in 1987. Since then he has run his own professional studio/workshop creating three-dimensional work for films, theatre, television, exhibitions, industry, shopping centres and public buildings.

His own theme in sculpture originates from common flints found in the clay soils of Hertfordshire, themselves "castings" within the primordial rock and in creative hands they are formed into humanoid shapes which are placed into likely "pairs". Derek acknowledges the premise "the aspect of change is our only constant". He has created a series of figures, with an emphasis on stylised gesture, which are not fixed on a base but are intended to be rearranged by the viewer. The component pieces can exist singly, in pairs or even trios, the endless possibilities of such compositions being the owner's prerogative. No complete work exists until its owner makes his "arrangement of the day", thus the relationship between owner and sculptor is active and ongoing.

MALCOLM WOODWARD

"Like Henry Moore I was born in Yorkshire the son of a miner and one of 8 children. There all similarities end.

I was fortunate in that my life overlapped with a part of Moore’s when I began, in 1972, helping to realize some of his ideas for him, by enlarging his sculptures from small, to medium, to life-size, to huge monumental pieces. This working pattern continued uninterrupted for 14 years, only ceasing when he died in 1986, leaving Moore’s sculptures, that I and a colleague were working on, half finished in the studio. Moore too was fortunate to have us working with him over the 14 years, as we gained insight into the origins of his small sculptures, his working methods and how he developed them; with his advancing years and depleting strength we became invaluable to him, as we could carry on making his sculptures as he became more reliant on us to fully realize and complete them; his ability now confined to the smallest of pieces and finally only drawings.

It can be disconcerting when the reality of practice within Moore’s studio in those last years is inconsistent with authorized public presentations of that reality, as if what was experienced never happened at all. A sculpture my colleague and I carved, Reclining Figure: Holes, was the last major elm carving made, and is the last piece seen when leaving the Henry Moore exhibition currently on at Tate Britain. It is poignant that we didn't quite finish the sculpture 32 years ago, when carving it for Moore’s 80th birthday show; it was exhibited and described as unfinished, went on to America, never coming back before he died. Consequently, the authorization to be finished now gone, it is described as carved by Henry Moore, as it joins other wood sculptures that he did carve earlier on."

About the sculpture "Mandala" shown in the attached image:

"Exhibiting Henry Moore’s sculpture in Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, gave me the opportunity to see some wonderful Indian temple sculpture. Their “foreignness” very beguiling, contrasted with Euro-centric ideas of what makes a sculpture powerful. The gentler forms, the eroticism and sensuality, aligned with people adorning the sculpture with garlands, colour and oils, was powerful and tender. ‘Mandala’ was an attempt to try and synthesise these."

This exhibition is sponsored by: