Jake Harvey
Recent Works
12 October - 11 November 2004

    

                 

Jake Harvey lives and works in Maxton in the Scottish Boarders. You can find him there, without knowing this to be his home, simply through the presence of his sculpture where it lies for a period on the grass or gravel outside the studio. Kilkenny Black Fossil Limestone, Granite, Bassalt, Carrara marble and forged and cast iron are his prime materials. Seen in an outdoor setting, the full meaning of the works' rich minimalism envelops you.

Arabella Harvey sums up the qualities of her father's work, describing his sculptures as "meditative and profound objects, which are linguistic, cultural and essential". Imbued with a stillness and a sophisticated, zen-like simplicity, the work is largely based on archeological, natural and man-made forms.

Altar, Passage, and Chaumer each have implied architectural connections. Less organic, more formally geometric, they are to do with decision-making concerning the visual qualities of measure and proportion, of how space is shaped and formed by an object. These powerful, floor-based stone sculptures have a universal, timeless frame of reference. Amongst other ideas, they are based on sketchbooks and drawings he keeps of things that interest him from extensive travels to Greece, India, Japan and Central America.

From 2000-2003 Jake Harvey was appointed to work as lead artist in a collaborative art and architectural project on the Hebridean Island, Tiree. Internationally acclaimed, An Turas (The Journey) is an experiential art work. It was short-listed for the Sterling Prize and won the RSA gold medal, and the Scottish IRAS award.

Jake Harvey is Professor of Sculpture at Edinburgh College of Art. His commissioned work can be found throughout Scotland and he is represented in museum collections in Scotland, Japan and Sweden.