John Bridgeman sculpture - Coventry, UK
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N 52° 24.707 W 001° 30.801
30U E 601117 N 5807879
This untitled sculpture is by the British sculptor John Bridgeman and was installed in 1973.
Waymark Code: WM9GZD
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/21/2010
Views: 32
The sculpture is just over 2 meters high and 65 cm in width. It sits on a concrete pedestal. The material of construction is resin impregnated with bronze powder, giving the impression that it is made from bronze.
One of the few available pictures of John Bridgeman shows him with this very sculpture behind him.
The sculpture is rarely visited as it is on a patch of grassland accessed by walking up the steps next to the Jesus Centre or by the footpath that tracks the Coventry Ring Road. DO NOT try to access this from the Ring Road itself.
The book by George Noszlopy, Public Sculpture of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull describes this piece as an organically shaped abstract sculpture in muted tones. It's texture suggests the graining of wood. Combined with its phallic form and the organic shapes that are shown as if moving up and over it, this creates a feeling of the surging of new life.
Personally, I can see a deformed face in the shape.
Born in Felixstowe, Suffolk in 1916 and named Arthur John, he was usually called 'Bridge' by his friends and signed himself John Bridgeman. He died in 2004. John Bridgeman was one of the first sculptors in Britain to embrace fibreglass, plastics, concrete and cement fondue. He was also a pioneer of new forms, such as play sculpture for children, and integrated sculptural articulation for buildings. As a conscientious objector, his art was profoundly affected by wartime experiences in London where, often in dangerous conditions, he helped dig bodies out of bombed and mined buildings, and took rescued civilians to hospital.
Obituary in the Independent: (
visit link)