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Summer 2024
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ABOUT Brendan Jamison was born in Northern Ireland and graduated with a Master of Fine Art from Ulster University. He also studied the history of Western architecture at Oxford and interactive art at MoMA, New York. He has delivered lectures at universities in America, China and Europe. Jamison receives commission requests from across the world, ranging from corporate clients and public museums to foundations and private art collectors. Highlights include sculptures of Tate Modern and 10 Downing Street in London, the Great Wall of China in Beijing and commissions by Vogue Italia in Milan and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. His artworks are held in many significant collections across the globe and he has received over 1,000 pieces of media coverage spanning art magazines, newspapers, books, television and radio. For a complete biography please CLICK HERE
Favourite Sculpture Materials
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NEWS
June 2024 EDEN PROJECT, CORNWALL, ENGLAND
Brendan Jamison is on a research trip to the Eden Project this month, preparing for two new artworks inspired by the largest indoor rainforest in the world, enclosed within interconnecting geodesic domes. The artist is combining his love of nature, botany, science, engineering and architecture.
May 27, 2024 THE LONE ASH PROJECT, COUNTY CAVAN, IRELAND
On top of a hill in County Cavan, Brendan Jamison has created an outdoor sculpture with 1,500 bamboo poles, individually dipped in wax. It was installed on the United States Memorial Day of May 27th, 2024. The undulating sculpture begins at the base of an ash tree and meanders down the hill. Jamison states, "The Lone Ash sculpture is a memorial to the child victims of mass shootings in the USA. Each wax element can symbolise the vibrant energetic spirit of a young victim, once full of the joys of Spring, embracing the wonders of the world, before the act of brutal barbaric bloodshed, now each little spirit flows like a river of souls from a weeping ash tree..." To view images from the project, please CLICK HERE
March 26, 2024 PANEL DISCUSSION, ARMAGH, NORTHERN IRELAND Brendan Jamison was a panelist at the inaugural 'Art Builds Community' conference at Armagh Marketplace Theatre and Arts Centre. Held on Tuesday March 26, the entire event was organised by Mark Revels, with Siobhan McGarry as compere and guest speakers from Australia (John Smithies), USA (Josh Schultz) and Ukraine (Nina Araya). Meanwhile, closer to home, the panel discussion included Marie Campbell, Stephen Kelly and Sheena Kelly. There was also a special presentation by Laura Howe and Emma Hodges from the Dublin City Council Culture Company.
The conference was attended by organisations from all across Northern Ireland and proved extremely insightful and uplifting. Attendees concluded it was a 'fun, meaningful and inspirational' conference, with a particular focus on how arts can be a lifeline to so many in our local communities. The conference was funded by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council.
February 17, 2024 GOLDEN THREAD GALLERY AT THRESHOLD, NORTHERN IRELAND Brendan Jamison's 'Red Forklift Truck'', a sculpture made from wool over wood, is on show in Belfast city centre at the Threshold Gallery on North Street. The artwork measues 55 x 80 x 35 cm and was purchased for the permanent collection of the Golden Thread Gallery in January 2024. 'How We Got To...', is a group touring show that launched on Saturday February 17, 2024. It continues at Threshold Gallery until March 15, then travels to 3 more Belfast venues during the Spring, the Shankill Library, the Ardoyne Library and the Linenhall Library. To view Brendan Jamison's wool sculpture please click here
Pictured above (left to right): Peter Richards, Director of the Golden Thread Gallery, Sarah McAvera, Deputy Director and sculptor Brendan Jamison.
December 2023 ARDS ARTS CENTRE, NORTHERN IRELAND Brendan Jamison's 'Green Digger Bucket with Three Holes', a sculpture made from microcrystalline wax over wood, is on show at the Ards Arts Centre in Northern Ireland from December 7, 2023 to January 27, 2024. The group exhibition, titled 'The Collection', is selected from the contemporary collection of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland [ACNI]. The sculpture was purchased in 2008, from an exhibition at the Titantic Drawing Offices in Belfast.
Brendan Jamison pictured in front of The Fifth Avenue Hotel, NYC
October 2023 NEW YORK CITY: NEW SUGAR CARVING FOR FIFTH AVENUE Brendan Jamison is in New York City delivering a new carved sugar cube sculpture. It will remain on permanent display in a special cabinet in the lobby of The Fifth Avenue Hotel, opening on October 16th, 2023. Following an extensive renovation project, the historic building was built in 1907 as the Second National Bank, designed by architects McKim, Meade and White. It is within walking distance of The Empire State Building, sitting on the corner of West 28th Street at 250 Fifth Avenue. The sculpture was created in Spring 2023, in a special commission through Vesto Images, with Jamison creating a sugar cube carving of the Ulster Tower from Thiepval, France, a memorial to soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division who died during the First World War. The tower's architecture is Scottish Baronial Style, one of Jamison's favourites to recreate in sugar cubes, especially the corner corbelled turrets. The artist delivered the sculpture to New York City and is excited to be part of the permanent collection, curated as an exhibition in prominent locations throughout the building, encouraging visitors to explore all the unique art on display.
Brendan Jamison on the Walls of Derry with his 'Chess Pieces', 2023, wool over wood. Photography © Adam McCallion for Jamison Sculpture Studio
July 2023 NEW WOOL SCULPTURES UNVEILED This year’s International Chess Day (July 20, 2023) saw Brendan Jamison reveal his new series of wool chess pieces at the Double Bastion on the ancient city walls of Derry. The 17th Century fortifications were built between 1613-1618 and remain intact, surrounding the entire inner city. Pictured behind the sculptures is the Verbal Arts Centre, the venue for the City of Derry’s weekly chess club, which meets every Thursday night from September to May. International Chess Day is an annual celebration of the founding of FIDE (the International Chess Federation) which formed 99 years ago on July 20, 1924. On top of his career as a professional sculptor, Brendan Jamison is also a FIDE-licensed National Arbiter, running rated chess competitions across Northern Ireland. His upcoming Derry tournament will be held at the Maldron Hotel on Saturday September 9, 2023. Details can be found here www.brendanjamison.com/fide.html The sculpture installation features 5 chess pieces, with pure coloured wool pouring out at the base of each piece, like a waterfall spilling outwards. This creates a sense of movement, like an animation. The colours are highly specialised, with the deep blue bought in India while the artist was in Delhi for a month-long project. When displayed inside, the sculptures seem to emit a mystical glow, bounching colour onto the surrounding walls, in particular The Orange Pawn, which becomes more illuminated as twilight approaches. The wool chess pieces are inspired by Jamison's deep passion for the game which he has played competitively since age 15. As a cross-cultural and cross-generational activity, the artist embraces colour to celebrate diversity and the joy and happiness that chess can bring to players. Three of the chess pieces, The Red Queen, The Yellow Knight and The Orange Pawn, will be on public display at the Ards Ards Centre from Friday July 28 to Friday August 25, 2023. Free entry. Daily opening times 10am to 4pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 1pm on Saturdays. Location: Ards Arts Centre, Town Hall, Conway Square, Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland, BT23 4NP To view Brendan Jamison's wool sculptures, please CLICK HERE
Brendan Jamison's 'Full Circle', 2023, acrylic on logs from Red Beech tree, 130 x 120 x 60 cm. Photography © Jamison Sculpture Studio
June 2023 BANGOR CASTLE WALLED GARDEN: Outdoor Summer Sculpture Exhibiton in Northern Ireland Brendan Jamison's 'Full Circle' has won the Gold Award for 1st place at the annual outdoor Summer exhibition, ‘ForM’, at Bangor Castle Walled Garden. The event is organised by Ards and North Down Borough Council. The artist has created the inter-linking structure from recycled logs from a Red Beech tree that he pruned last Winter. Created from cut branches and sawn into irregular shaped logs, Jamison has sought to create a magical arch to reflect the exuberance of beauty in the Walled Garden. The artwork appears vibrant, with thick and chunky fire-red earthy colours at the bottom. It moves upwards into orange and yellow in the mid-section as a nod to the joy of sunlight. The top third sees cooling colours of luscious green vegetation and shades of blue as the apex touches the sky. Jamison states that “Bangor Castle Walled Garden is one of my favourite locations in the whole of Northern Ireland. This sculpture was created in direct response to the uplifting joy of perpetual visits to this special place of beauty and tranquillity. It is hoped the artwork will allow the visitor’s eye to bounce back and forth, making connections with the garden’s varied display of colourful petals, behind and to the sides of the sculpture, dancing in full bloom…” The exhibition is free and open to the public from 10am to 6pm from Thursday June 1st to Friday June 30th, 2023. Location: Bangor Castle Walled Garden, Valentine Road, Bangor, Northern Ireland, BT20 4BT. To view the full suite of images from this project, please CLICK HERE.
Brendan Jamison with the MaRS team. Photography © Mayfield and Ragni Studio
May 2023 TEXAS, USA: Mayfield and Ragni Studio Brendan Jamison is in Houston, meeting with the wonderful team of designers and architects at MaRS [Mayfield and Ragni Studio]. He is currently working on 3 new sculptures for a new skyscraper that will open in Texas in 2025. More details soon...
February 2023 NEW YORK CITY: SUGAR METROPOLIS IN NEW BOOK 'New York Sugar Metropolis' by Brendan Jamison and his sculpture partner Mark Revels has been featured in a new 200 page book by international curator Manon Slome titled No Longer Empty: Building Art and Community in Unused Spaces. ISBN: 979836754103
Studio detail of Brendan Jamison's Abstract Rhythm, 9309 thread reels, 292 x 321 cm. Photography © Jamison Sculpture Studio Studio detail of Brendan Jamison's Abstract Rhythm, 9309 thread reels, 292 x 321 cm. Photography © Jamison Sculpture Studio
January 2023 TEXAS, USA: ABSTRACT THREAD ARTWORK Brendan Jamison has created a new wall-mounted sculpture for MaRS, an award-winning design company in Houston, Texas. Abstract Rhythm was created over 4 months from 9,309 reels of thread. Jamison describes how "it was an extremely enjoyable commission to work on and the biggest highlight was having the freedom to create the entire visuals purely from the imagination. It evolved as the piece grew upwards, making sure new forms and colours complemented the sections beneath. It was built layer-by-layer, instilling a sense of fluidity with the undulating forms and using gentle tonal transitions. The project has opened up a whole new wave to my sculpture practice."
HAUNTED HOUSE (2022) Brendan Jamison, plywood, foam and clay 200 x 180 x100 cm. Photography © Jamison Sculpture Studio
October 29, 2022 THEATRE DESIGN & FABRICATION Commissioned by Sticky Fingers Arts, Brendan Jamison was asked to design and fabricate a haunted house for the Newry Halloween parade. The event took place on October 29, 2022, enjoyed by the entire community in Nerwy city centre. To view images of the completed work, please CLICK HERE
Brendan Jamison's Chess Elmer, installed in Belfast city centre on Saturday June 18, 2022. Acrylic over fibreglass, 110 x 129 x 68 cm
June 20 to August 31, 2022 CHESS SCULPTURE HELPS CREATE MAGIC TRAIL ACROSS BELFAST Brendan Jamison has created a chess-themed charity sculpture for the NI Hospice in a special city-wide art spectacle this summer. From June 20 to August 31, the public can hunt for 70 Elmer elephants, all displayed across Belfast, forming the biggest-ever public art trail across the city. Jamison’s sculpture is located outside the skyscrapers of the BT Tower and Hilton Hotel at Lanyon Plaza. The piece was sponsored by KPMG and is accompanied by a short text on the artist’s concept: “The game of chess originated in India in the 7th Century, a country renowned for its respect for elephants, not only aiding the construction industry but also playing a key role in special ceremonies whereby the elephant is adorned in vibrant colours. ‘Chess Elmer’ celebrates the richness of this culture in a fun and playful fashion, imbuing the optimism and magic of colour. Pink chess pieces move across green fields in a chequered landscape, under a bright blue sky and the warm glow of a yellow sun, radiating beams of happiness out into the world.” For further images and further information, please visit the project webpage HERE
FAIRIES (2022) Brendan Jamison, wool over fibreglass, 100 x 80 x 60 cm each. Photography © Jamison Sculpture Studio
March 27, 2022 NEW WOOL SCULPTURES: STREET FESTIVAL Commissioned by Sticky Fingers Arts, Brendan Jamison created three wool fairy sculptures for the 'Shine' street festival in Newry, Northern Ireland. On display outdoors over the weekend of March 26-27, the artworks have now returned to their permanent home at Sticky Fingers Arts Centre on Upper Edward Street in the city centre. To view images of the sculptures on display at Marcus Square, please CLICK HERE
January 10, 2022 NEW BOOK: ROLLED SCULPTURES
Published at the end of December, the hardcopies of 'Rolled Sculptures' have arrived at the studio. The book covers projects from 2018-2021, including the expansive 'Waterfall' installation in Ukraine and the recent 'Flow' ceiling sculpture, completed in early December 2021 at the Sticky Fingers Arts Centre in Newry, Northern Ireland. Details: ISBN 978-1-00-604946-0. Hardcopy price: £20 (GBP). Also availbale as an e-book at $13.95 (USD). 33 page publication with essay and 36 photographs. 16.5 cm high, 17.2 cm wide.
Photography © Jamison Sculpture Studio January 2, 2022 STAR WARS VINTAGE COLLECTABLES
A life-long collector contacted Brendan Jamison, requesting to buy his vintage 1970s Star Wars collection of vehicles and spacehips. Before parting with the highly sought after collectables, the artist spent a week documenting all the models to capture some creative photographs. In the end, 326 images were published for the collector in early January 2022. Jamison states, "it was so much fun recreating scenes from the ice planet of Hoth in the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back, as well as iconic scenes from Jabba's Palace and the Battle of Endor in 1983's Return of the Jedi. As a young child, the exposure to Star Wars created a wonderful foundation for the imagination to expand and this paved the way for a career as a professional artist." The collection Jamison sold ranges from the original figures from 1977 up to the late 1990s, including Micro Machine and Lego figures. The entire documentation of the vast collection can be viewed HERE. Aside from being an avid collector, Jamison's carved sugar cube sculptures attracted the attention of Disney, who bought Lucasfilm in 2012. In March 2016, Jamison was contacted by Disney to create a Star Wars sugar cube sculpture of BB-8, a new round droid featured in Episodes VII, VIII and IX. The artwork was one of fifty creative interpretations of the droid and each version was auctioned off with 100% proceeds to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London. Many of the BB-8 models were designed by Star Wars cast members, notably Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Anthony Daniels (C-3P0), Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok), Daisy Ridley (Rey) and John Boyega (Finn). All the models went on display together in London before the auction. Pictured above is Brendan Jamison's SUGAR CUBE BB-8 (2016), carved sugar cubes and silicone. 25 x 18 x 18 cm.
FLOW, 2021, Brendan Jamison, foam ceiling sculpture, 900 x 600 x 50 cm. Photography © Jamison Sculpture Studio December 8, 2021 FOAM CEILING SCULPTURE
Commissioned by the Sticky Fingers Arts Centre in Newry, Flow is a new ceiling sculpture by international artist Brendan Jamison. Embracing the uplifting joy of vibrant colour, suspended foam segments appear to float across the ceiling, creating a rhythm to enchant visitors as they wander through the space. Similar to a honey-comb effect, the artwork appears organic, with some visitors comparing it to the richness of colour and texture in a coral reef. Others may see a rainbow of cloud formations, a glowing nebula in outer space or a series of technicolour waves rippling across the roof. Part of the beauty of this sculpture is how it allows people to create their own narrative around it, with the visual stimulus conjuring up lots of different ideas and possibilities of what it could be.
Jamison states that he “hopes the visual feast will ignite the imagination of everyone entering the building. It is important to convey a sense of the magic of the arts centre. It is a unique place for children to enjoy play and creativity in a safe and inspiring environment. Sticky Fingers is like a petrol station for art, fuelling creativity within our younger generation, refilling their tanks and allowing their imagination to flow with happiness in every direction. It has been a joy to work on the project with such a friendly team of professionals at Sticky Fingers.”
The artwork will remain on permanent display, now part of the fabric of the art centre. To view the suite of images please CLICK HERE.
December 2021 GUILDHALL GALLERY, LONDON Brendan Jamison's 'Green Digger Bucket with Three Holes' is on show at the Guildhall Gallery in London from December 6-18, 2021. The sculpture is created from microcrystalline and paraffin wax over wood. It is part of a touring exhibition that opened at the Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast, running from October 9 to November 3. The show is curated by Shan McAnena and is titled 'Portrait of Northern Ireland: Neither an elegy nor a manifesto'. It features over 100 artworks, created between 1921-2021.
November 25, 2021 ARTIST IN FOCUS: LONDON SOUTH ART HUB Brendan Jamison was inverviewed by the London South Art Hub, with school teacher Amy Mulvenna asking pupils to research the artist and send through their favourite questions. The 17 answers feature in this video, along with some career highlights. Jamison was very impressed by the level of questions posed by the school children. He hopes it will inspire lots of pupils to explore art with an abundance of enthusiasm and a curiosity to use their imagination to explore new ideas and new materials. The interview was published online on Thursday November 25, 2021.
Photography © Pak Aerial Media, November 14, 2021 November 2021 ASTRONAUT OF THE FUTURE A giant outline of an astronaut has been created on the rooftop of an old mill in Newry, the home of the Sticky Fingers Arts Centre on Upper Edward Street. During August and September, artist Brendan Jamison has used 10,000 little white rocks to create ‘Astronaut of the Future’. The sculpture measures 15 metres long (50 feet) and features a floating spacesuit complete with helmet and oxygen tank. Jamison has used white marble and Cretaceous chalk rocks, offering a sparkling bright white for the figure’s outline. The artist enjoys cross-pollinating different disciplines when making sculptures, in this case combining art with geology and astronomy. The space theme also ties in with Jamison’s arthouse film-making project, Minus 10, with the trailer set for release in December 2021. During October, Jamison added Planet Earth to the bottom left of the roof, created with with blue and green paint, measuring 4 metres (13ft) in diametre. On Sunday, November 14, Pak Aerial Media sent a drone over the building to capture the astronaut and Planet Earth. To read more about the astronaut project and view images, please CLICK HERE
Brendan Jamison's Blue Digger Bucket [Model THB100], microcrystalline and paraffin wax over wood 64 x 80 x 45 cm
November 2021 ADAM'S AUCTIONS, DUBLIN Created 14 years ago, but never exhibited as it was bought by an art collector direct from Jamison's studio, a rare blue digger sculpture will go on sale at Adam's auctions in Dublin, Ireland. Part of the Mid-Century Modern sale, bidding will take place on Tuesday 2 November 2021. Excerpt from the catalogue. Dickon Hall writes: Brendan Jamison has established an extensive international reputation as a sculptor. He has exhibited and carried out commissions across the world and his works are in collections including Grosvenor, London, Vogue Italia, Milan, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the film department of MOMA, New York. In 2008, Brian McAvera described him as ‘by far the most interesting sculptor to have emerged in the last decade in the North’.* A witty and highly innovative use of material has always been at the heart of Brendan Jamison’s sculptural practice and while he had made constructions in sugar cubes for several years after leaving the University of Ulster in 2004, in 2007 he began to work in a very different medium, dripped wax, intensely coloured and monochromatic, overlaid on a wooden base. The first series of wax sculptures Jamison made at this time were based on the shape of a JCB digger bucket, creating an extraordinary integration of the practical and the fantastical, the mundane and the dreamlike. But there is perhaps a more ambiguous edge to these apparently vivacious works. The piercing of the form carries a sense of shock or violence, as well as a dynamic energy; one could imagine them being formed in the moments after an explosion, with ridges of wax demonstrating Jamison’s expressive use of the rich textural opportunities of the medium. Their emotional complexity is never overstated or obvious, but remains implicit within an expertly constructed, but always subversive object. To visit the artwork on the auction site, please CLICK HERE *Brian McAvera, ‘Against the Canon’, Irish Arts Review, Autumn 2008, p.87
July 2021 DALLAS, TEXAS: NEW SCULPTURES INSTALLED IN SKYSCRAPER 10 sculptures by Brendan Jamison and his sculpture partner Mark Revels have been installed in a new skyscraper in Dallas, Texas. The commisson features a giant golf tee artwork (pictured above) and 9 tall steel and resin figures at the entrance lobby. To view images of the artworks please CLICK HERE
June 2021 THE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW Brendan Jamison is featured in the June 2021 edition of The Architectural Review. This month's theme is waste. Jamison's plastic block sculpture of Teufelsberg spy station (Berlin) illustrates how the listening post was created on an artificial hill in the Grunewald Forest, built from the rubble of World War Two. For further information on this project please CLICK HERE
Berlin, Germany Spring 2021 INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE FILM-MAKING PROJECT Brendan Jamison is currently working on an arthouse film-making project, with footage shot across 10 different countries around the world. Filming has already taken place on the desert outskirts of Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Berlin (Germany) and in the ancient European city of Prague (capital of the Czech Republic). The title of the movie is ‘Minus 10’ and set for release in 2022.A short trailer will be released in December 2021.
December 15, 2020 COMMISSION FOR ART UK, LONDON Brendan Jamison has been commissioned by Art UK to make a special educational video. With a focus on wool sculptures, the 11 minute video sees the artist discuss the links between art and gender and his passion for androgynous aesthetics. Art UK is a cultural education charity, enabling global audiences to learn about the UK's art collection through artuk.org. It is the showcase for art in every UK public collection and is a collaboration between over 3,300 British institutions. The article with Jamison's video can be viewed online at Art UK here.
Left to right: Ciaran Magill, Mark Revels+Brendan Jamison and Gail Ritchie December 2020 MARSHALL M. FREDERICKS SCULPTURE MUSEUM, MICHIGAN From December 1-15, a yellow Waterfall collage on paper by Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels is on display at a fundraising exhibition at the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, Michigan, USA. They are joined by two other leading artists from Northern Ireland, Gail Ritchie and Ciaran Magill. To view the exhibition webpage please CLICK HERE The yellow waterfall is a digital collage, a memorial to those who have died in war across the planet. Jamison states “the intention of the Waterfall sculpture is to create a warm feminine honeycomb effect with a sense of fluid movement. The brightness of the yellow brings an optimism like sunshine. It can symbolise the shinning spirits of all those who have died in conflict. The idea is that the lives lost may continue like a ‘river of souls’, flowing into the future through another realm...” Plan for Waterfall installation at Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, 2020, Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels, digital collage printed on 160 gsm ivory paper, signed on reverse, 12.5 cm x 18 cm [5 x 7 inches] In September 2018, Jamison and Revels made a gigantic 5 metre tall (16 feet) waterfall sculpture at the Mystetskyi Arsenal, the National Art and Culture Museum in Kiev, Ukraine. To view images please CLICK HERE
November 2020 SUGAR CUBE SCULPTURES: GLOBAL HIGHLIGHTS Brendan Jamison has picked some of his favourite sugar cube scuptures, created all around the world over the past decade. Highlights include his Tate Modern sculpture for the London Festival of Architecture, a Sugar Metropolis at Centre Pompidou in Paris and a special commission for Vogue Italia in Milan, Italy. To view the carved sugar cube scuptures please CLICK HERE
April 2019 CONTEMPORARY ART IN SCHOOLS As a learning resource for secondary level pupils, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland [ACNI] has created a short video interview with Brendan Jamison. The film series ties in with a new initiative of lending contemporary art to schools across Northern Ireland. Jamison states "the aim is to inspire the next generation of creative thinkers at a pivotal point in their education, helping to expand the minds of young people and encourage teenagers to dream of ambitious futures where they can bring creative magic to all aspects of society". ACNI owns three of Jamison's sculptures, one of which, a sugar cube carving of Sir Henry Tate's Mausoleum, is on show for six months at Belfast Model School for Girls.
Waterfall (2018) Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels, paper and wire, 550 x 1200 x 1000 cm SEPTEMBER 2018 MYSTETSKYI ARSENAL, National Museum of Art and Culture, Kiev, Ukraine
During the month of September 2018, Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels created an interactive waterfall sculpture for Mystetskyi Arsenal, the National Art and Culture Museum in Kiev, Ukraine. Pictured above, the project is a memorial to the tragic loss of over 10,500 lives since 2014 during the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine. This is a subject that Jamison and Revels feel very passionate about, recognising how the global press and world leaders often ignore the devastating scale of this war. Jamison states that “the intention of the Waterfall sculpture is to create a warm feminine honeycomb effect with a sense of fluid movement. This is in contrast to traditional war memorials which are often very hard, dark, masculine and sombre. The brightness of the yellow brings an optimism like sunshine. It can symbolise the shinning spirits of all those who have died in war. The idea is that the lives lost may continue like a ‘river of souls’, flowing into the future through another realm...”
For further information and images please CLICK HERE
MAY 2018 UNIVERSITY OF LISBON, PORTUGAL
In the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Lisbon, Brendan Jamison has assisted in research into the convservation of contemporary art. Under the theme “Sugar - New Challenge for the Conservator Restorer in Preserving the Constituent Materials of Contemporary Art”, Masters student Ana Antunes has conducted a detailed interview with Jamison. To read the transcript, please CLICK HERE
Body World, 2018, Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels, carved sugar cubes, installation of 7 sculptures APRIL 2018 BODY WORLD
Brendan Jamison and his sculpture partner Mark Revels have created a new series of biology-themed sugar cube carvings, donated to Abbott Diabetes Care in California. The 'Body World' project features sculptures of the human torso, head, arteries, blood cells, insulin and a giant thermometer which charts the average sugar consumption per day, per month and per year. The models will be used on a national education campaign across America to raise awareness about the science of sugar and the importance of continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes. For further images and information please CLICK HERE
Desert Drone Strike Series, 2017, Brendan Jamison, plastic blocks NOVEMBER 2017 WAR-THEMED SERIES IN PLASTIC BLOCKS
For a group exhibition at Platform Arts, Belfast, Brendan Jamison has created a new series of 10 works in response to desert drone strikes in the Middle East. The plastic block artworks begin with an aesthetic of pristine surfaces and glorious vibrancy. However, as the series progresses, the imagery becomes more disruptive and distorted as the materials are burnt, melted and torn apart through gun fire. Like the devastation caused by war itself, the deliberate destruction of the plastic blocks reflect the brutality of bombs and bullets, on both the human body and the environment. However, the absence of figures from each scene references the news footage of such drone strikes whereby it often appears like a scene from a movie, rather than real life. The imagery can also be read as stills from a violent computer game whereby human life becomes extinguished in the blink of an eye. The series reflects on the horrors and tragedy of contemporary warfare but it also explores how we become seduced by the spectacle and hypnotic allure of the warm colours of an explosive detonation, as seen from the comfort and safety of our own homes.
The exhibition, And This Too, opened on Thursday November 2 and continues until 5pm on Saturday November 25, 2017. The other 6 artists are Gail Ritchie, Mark Revels, Ciaran Magill, Jill Gibbon, Sean Campbell and David Turner. A panel discussion was held in the gallery from 2pm to 3:30pm on Friday November 3, 2017. A one hour walk-around tour by the artists will take place on Saturday November 11 from 2-3pm. Daily opening times: Wednesday to Saturday from 12 noon to 5pm. Location: Platform Arts, 1 Queen Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland. For further info and images, please CLICK HERE
Number 10 Downing Street, 2014, Brendan Jamison, carved sugar cubes, 43.5 x 26 x 14 cm NOVEMBER 2017 ADAM'S AUCTIONS, DUBLIN Brendan Jamison's second carving of NUMBER 10, created in 2014, is on display at Adam's auction house in Dublin where it will go under the hammer as Lot 129 at 6pm GMT on Wednesday November 22, 2017. The sculpture forms part of the Eamonn Mallie collection within the 'Important Irish Art' sale. Address: 26 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland. Viewing times: Sunday November 19 from 2pm to 5pm. Monday November 20 from 10am to 5pm. Tuesday November 21 from 10am to 5pm. Wednesday November 22 from 10am to 5pm. For a direct link to the auction lot please CLICK HERE
RORY McILROY, 2017, portrait with 3145 wooden golf tees, 150 x 150 cm. Created by Brendan Jamsion and his studio fabricator David Turner. SEPTEMBER 2017 RORY TAKES 3145 GOLF TEES TO SWING GIANT PORTRAIT The Rory Foundation commissioned a special portrait of world-renowned golfer Rory McIlroy as a charity initiative. The artwork was created by Brendan Jamison and his studio fabricator David Turner over a period of 6 weeks during the summer of 2017. It began as a digital dot portrait which was then transformed into a golf tee artwork by drilling 3145 holes into a wooden board. Jamison and Turner used 2196 black and 959 grey golf tees. The picture made its debut at the Irish Open in July 2017 where it was the centrepiece of the Hospitality Suite at Portstewart Golf Club in Northern Ireland. The unique portrait has been signed by Rory McIlroy and will be auctioned in New York in 2018, with all proceeds to charity. Jamison states that he "shares the Rory Foundation's passion for raising much needed funds to support the health, development and wellbeing of children. They are the future. Every child deserves a positive environment of encouragement and enthusiasm to help them reach their full potential". For further info and images, please CLICK HERE
APRIL 2017 DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES During April 2017, Brendan Jamison created a Sugar Science project in Dubai with his sculpture partner Mark Revels. Commissioned by the British Council, the interactive sugar cube sculpture installation was on display at THINK SCIENCE at the Dubai World Trade Centre from April 18-20. For further images please CLICK HERE.
SUGAR DEMOCRACY (2016) Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels, carved sugar cubes, 250 x 1800 x 2000 cm. Short documentary film. SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2016 KYIV, UKRAINE Brendan Jamison and his sculpture partner Mark Revels have launched Sugar Democracy, their largest sugar cube project to date. The giant interactive sculpture is commissioned by IZOLYATSIA, an international foundation for arts and culture, based in Kyiv (Kiev). Through a fun and playful approach, Sugar Democracy celebrates the power of mass-collaboration and encourages all members of the public to participate, irrespective of age, gender, culture or race.
Ukraine is a world-renowned leader in the sugar industry, a giant in the field of agriculture. Historically, the wealthy sugar magnates, like the Tereshchenko dynasty, were among the most active philanthropists engaged in charity activities, giving Ukraine numerous buildings, cultural and educational institutions, as well as art collections, now kept in national museums. The Sugar Democracy project begins with a reference to historical Ukrainian architecture, with the central part of the installation being a sugar model of the Teacher’s House in Kyiv. Originally built in 1912 for the Kyiv Pedagogical Museum, the building famously hosted Ukraine’s first Parliament, the Central Council of Ukraine, from 1917-1918. The Teachers’ House epitomises a kind of place where culture and education give rise to democracy. Surrounding this model, Jamison and Revels have created hundreds of contemporary sculptures, expanding outwards in a metropolis of sparkling sugar crystals. They also taught a group of Ukrainian architecture students how to construct buildings in sugar cubes and these small works surround the central section of the installation. Their innovative approaches to the medium saw the students highly commended during the speeches on the opening night, with particular praise for Катерина Цигикало (Kateryna Tsyhykalo), Лєра Павлова (Lera Pavlova), Ігор Стєшин (Igor Steshyn), Софія Рохманійко (Sonya Rohmanijko) and Юлія Джулай (Julia July).
Sugar Democracy is located on level 2 of iZone, an organisation spread over 4 levels of a former factory in the ship-building quarter of the city. The exhibition opened on Thursday 22 September and continues until Sunday 30 October 2016. Daily opening hours are from 12pm to 8pm Monday to Sunday. FREE ENTRY. For further images and details please CLICK HERE Audience interacting on the opening night of SUGAR DEMOCRACY (2016) Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels, carved sugar cubes, 250 x 1800 x 2000 cm.
JUNE TO AUGUST 2016 SUGAR AMERICA, 3 MONTH SCULPTURE TOUR Linking art and medical science, sculptors Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels have completed a 3 month sculpture tour, exhibiting at 15 venues across the USA. They created Sugar America, a giant sugar cube sculpture which maps iconic buildings, state symbols and animals from across the country. Sponsored by Abbott Diabetes Care, a leading global healthcare company, the sculptures have animated the world of diabetes through the Know Your Sugar Tour, an education project to raise awareness about the science of sugar and diabetes. The tour ended its 4,000 mile journey in California on Tuesday August 16 with a special ribbon cutting ceremony. To watch the fun and playful documentary which condenses the magic into a 15 minute film, please press play below: Sugar America project by Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels [15 minutes]
APRIL 2016 STAR WARS, LONDON Brendan Jamison was contacted by Disney to create a STAR WARS sugar cube sculpture of BB-8. The artwork is one of fifty creative interpretations of the droid and each version will to be auctioned off with 100% proceeds aimed at raising funds for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London. The exhibition runs from Monday 18th to Thursday 21st April 2016 at the White Rainbow Gallery, 47 Mortimer Street, London, W1W 8HJ. Daily opening hours: 12pm - 7pm. Image above: Sugar Cube BB-8 (2016) Brendan Jamison, carved sugar cubes and silicone, 25 x 18 x 18 cm. For further images please CLICK HERE
APRIL 2016 CATALYST ARTS, BELFAST Brendan Jamison is presenting a new circular saw sculpture as a work-in-progress in the RAW exhibition at Catalyst Arts in Belfast. The group show focuses on the theme of unfinished artworks which have been taken directly from the artist's studio while still in a transitional state of flux. RAW opens on Thursday 7 April from 6pm to 9pm. The exhibtion continues until Thursday 14 April 2016. Free Entry. Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 5pm. Location: 5 College Court, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Image above: Circular Saw Blades (2016) Brendan Jamison, wood, 120 x 120 x 35 cm.
MARCH 2016 SUGAR HILL, NEW YORK CITY New York Sugar Metropolis, created by Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels, is currently in a media frenzy across NYC as it promotes the upcoming annual benefit of No Longer Empty (NLE) on March 29, 2016. The event will take place at the Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art and Storytelling, the site where the sugar cube installation was commissioned back in 2014. Many of the elements of the sculpture project remain in the permanent collection of the museum. NLE’s forward-looking benefit, tellingly titled “The Journey Continues,” honors three women who are advancing their respective fields, while applying their talents to the betterment of the community: Ellen Baxter, of Broadway Housing Communities, improves the quality of life for the homeless by combining housing, education and the arts; Sol Aramendi (who’ll be spinning discs at the benefit) provides art-focused educational opportunities for immigrants; and Sarah Calderon, of ArtPlace America, advocates for the inclusion of art and culture in city planning. For further information please visit nolongerempty.org/home/benefit-2016
Brendan Jamison (left) and Mark Revels (right) introduce their Pompidou project [86 seconds] OCTOBER 2015 POMPIDOU, PARIS Brendan Jamison and his sculpture partner Mark Revels have been commissioned to create a new installation entitled Sugar Metropolis for the Centre Pompidou, Paris. Every visitor is invited to work alongside Jamison and Revels to participate in the creation of this large-scale sugar cube installation which combines the worlds of architecture, design, science, city-planning, game-playing and fine art. The project has been generously supported by the Centre Culturel Irlandais and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Sugar Metropolis is on display from 2 - 6 pm every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday at the 13/16 Interactive Space on Level -1 (basement) and is open to the public from Saturday October 10 until Sunday November 22, 2015. Entry to this project space is free. For images please CLICK HERE
RED CRANE (2015) Brendan Jamison, wool over PVC piping. 318 x 240 x 80 cm OCTOBER 2015 ULSTER MUSEUM, BELFAST For his latest project exploring the theme of 'androdgynous aesthetics', Brendan Jamison has created a wool crane sculpture for a group exhibition at the Ulster Museum in Northern Ireland. The 3 month show runs until Sunday January 3, 2016. Opening hours are from 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Sunday Free Entry. For further images please CLICK HERE.
Brendan Jamison (right) and Mark Revels (left) introduce their highlights of the Venice Biennale in a fun and playful tour [3 minutes, 37 seconds] SEPTEMBER 2015 VENICE BIENNALE Brendan Jamison and his sculpture partner Mark Revels are in Venice during September 2015 on a research visit to the 56th Biennale, entitled 'All the World's Futures'. Established in 1895, it is the largest and longest running international art exhibition on the planet. Each participating country has a special national pavilion at the Biennale, showcasing artists who push the boundraries of contemporary art. The event attracts over 300,000 visitors throughout its 6 month run and it continues until November 22, 2015.
BIOLOGICAL ARCHITECTURE (2015) Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels. Carved sugar cubes. 60 x 380 x 180 cm. Commissioned by Abbott FreeStyle in association with RJM Design. Installed at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center for the annual conference of the American Association of Diabetes Educators. AUGUST 2015 COMMISSION FOR THE DIABETES EDUCATORS, LOUISIANA Commissioned by American pharmaceutical company Abbott, Brendan Jamison collaborated with Mark Revels to create a large sugar cube carving for the annual conference of the American Association of Diabetes Educators. With over 7,500 atendees from all across the United States, the event was held at the Ernest N. Morial Conventer Center in New Orleans, Louisiana [August 5-8, 2015]. Using 47,583 sugar cubes, the sculpture intermixes biological elements from the human body with some of the most iconic architectural styles of New Orleans. The head is represented by the Superdome, the torso is the Central Business District - interwoven with a carved heart, arteries, stomach and intestines. Meanwhile the left arm is the French Quarter, the right arm is the Warehouse Arts District and the legs feature the double bridge over the Mississippi River. For further images please CLICK HERE
GIANT GREEN DIGGER BUCKET [model G210THB] (2015) Brendan Jamison. Wood. 210 x 170 x 94 cm JULY 2015 OUTDOOR SCULPTURE SERIES Brendan Jamison has unveiled his new outdoor sculpture series with a giant green digger bucket in the G.S.C. Sculpture Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland. In response to the mechanical devices of the construction industry, Jamison favours an organic approach, choosing the material of wood, combined with the colour green and the creation of natural-shaped openings at the sides of the structure. Upturned with its curved back stretching outwards, the bucket seems to attack the tree with its four pointed teeth, like the claws of a giant bear in the forest. For further images please CLICK HERE
Brita commercial by Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels (62 seconds) JUNE 2015 MoMA, NEW YORK On June 4 at MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art, New York), the sugar cube sculpture commercial by Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels is on the shortlist for 'Best Design' category at the 23rd Annual AICP Awards, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers. Created by Harvest Films for the Brita water filter company, the sugar cube city will be screened at 6:30pm during the announcement ceremony and will enter the archive of MoMA's Film Department. It will also tour to museums throughout America during the second half of 2015. Click above to watch the commercial.
SIR HENRY TATE'S MAUSOLEUM by Brendan Jamison. Carved sugar cubes, 65 x 75 x 45 cm. Photography: © Jamison Sculpture Studio MAY 2015 TATE SCULPTURE PUBLISHED BY OXFORD UNIVERSITY Brendan Jamison’s carved sugar cube sculpture of Sir Henry Tate’s Mausoleum has been published by Oxford University Press in a hardback encyclopedia of 897 pages: ‘The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets’, edited by Darra Goldstein (ISBN 978-0-19-931339-6). As a gift to the nation, sugar cube manufacturer Henry Tate donated his art collection and the funds to build the first Tate Gallery, now known as Tate Britain in London. Jamison’s intricate carving features detailed lettering through a pioneering technique he developed specifically for the project. It was originally exhibited at West Norwood Cemetery in London, the burial place of Sir Henry Tate. The sculpture was then exhibited from October 2014 to January 2015 at the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts annual exhibition in the Ulster Museum, Belfast. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland subsequently purchased the piece, making it the third Jamison sculpture to be added to their contemporary art collection. For further images, please visit the sugar cube page - CLICK HERE.
SQUEEZED TELEPHONE BOX (2005) bronze, 15.5 x 6.5 x 5 cm and GREEN DIGGER BUCKET COUPLE (2008) microcrystalline and paraffin wax over wood, 46 x 56 x 29 cm. Photography: © John Ross & Co. APRIL 2015 EARLY SCULPTURES HIT AUCTION HOUSE A rare bronze telephone box and a pair of wax digger buckets by Brendan Jamison are currently on display at Ross's Auctions in Northern Ireland. The artworks are being sold in the Stephen Hylands Contemporary Art Collection, with all 96 lots scheduled to be auctioned at 7pm on Wednesday 13 May 2015. Location: 37 Montgomery Street, Belfast. Opening times: Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm. ADMISSION FREE.
SWISS ARMY KNIFE (2015) Brendan Jamison, carved sugar cubes. 11 x 16 x 3 cm. Commissioned by Vogue Italia, Milan. Photography © Vogue Italia MARCH 2015 VOGUE COMMISSION, MILAN, ITALY Brendan Jamison has been commissioned to make 4 sculptures for Vogue magazine in Milan, Italy. The Swiss theme features an army knife, watch, flag and chocolate bar. The sculptures are published in a special photo-shoot in the March 2015 edition of Vogue Italia. For further images please CLICK HERE
Mark Revels and Brendan Jamison outside their exhibition at the Inter Art Center, 798 Art District, Beijing. MARCH 2015 BEIJING AND SHANGHAI EXHIBITIONS During March 2015, Jamison was displaying works in 4 exhibitions in China at the 6th annual 'Irish Wave' festival in Beijing and Shanghai. The first exhibition, 'Golden Fleece', opened on March 15 at the Inter Art Center in the 798 Art District of Beijing and featured a collaboration with Mark Revels. The sculpture duo presented a body cast installation with felt virus spheres and wool forklift trucks. China Central Television: Culture Express, broadcast on March 17, 2015. [2 minutes, 23 seconds] Meanwhile, in the business district of Beijing, 'A Meditation in Time of War' opened on March 16 at the Dong Yue Art Museum. The preview was filmed by China Central Television, the most watched channel in Asia (see clip above). The following week, 'Small World' opened on March 21 at the San Wei Art Center in the M50 Art District of Shanghai. The final show, 'Intimate Perspectives' took place at the Shanghai Grand Theater and was accompanied by a series of artist talks on March 23.
Brendan Jamison and Alvin Hall at the launch of EVOLUTION on December 9 at the Sugar Hill Museum of Art and Storytelling, New York City. Photography © Jamison Sculpture Studio DECEMBER 2014 EVOLUTION, NEW YORK CITY EVOLUTION, a new sugar cube sculpture installation by Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels, was unveiled on December 9 at the corporate launch of the new Sugar Hill Museum of Art and Storytelling in New York City. Alvin Hall, the internationally renowned financial educator and TV presenter, officially opened the event with his notable blend of charisma and wonderful sense of humour. He delivered a very witty speech in front of hundreds of guests and particularly enjoyed interacting with Jamison and Revels as he got down on his knees to contribute to the 'Evolution' installation. For images of the project please CLICK HERE
Film still from Brita commercial. Directed by Matthias Zentner. SUGAR BIOLOGY (2014) Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels. 221,314 sugar cubes. 100 x 800 x 400 cm. Commissioned by Brita and Harvest Films, Los Angeles. OCTOBER 2014 SUGAR BIOLOGY, LOS ANGELES Harvest Films, based in Los Angeles, commissioned sculptors Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels to travel to Hollywood to create a giant human-shaped city in sugar cubes for a television commercial by Brita, the German water-filter company that operates globally. Using 221,314 sugar cubes and measuring 8 metres long, the sculpture represents the average amount of sugar that one human being consumes in a lifetime. Directed by Matthias Zentner, the TV campaign was released in Canada on Monday September 8, 2014. It was then broadcast across America on Friday October 17 and continues to air until the end of December 2014. The commercial is designed to highlight the serious health risks of drinking liquids with high sugar content. For further information please CLICK HERE SUGAR BIOLOGY - behind the scenes with Mark Revels and Brendan Jamison (87 seconds)
OCTOBER 2014 AWARD WINNER: THE TEXTILE SOCIETY, ENGLAND On October 1, Brendan Jamison won the annual Professional Development Award from the UK Textile Society. The award will fund an exhibition of wool forklift sculptures in March 2015 in Beijing, China. The judges stated "the project is witty, exciting and has an innovative gender approach with excellent promotion of UK textiles". The Society promotes the study of textile disciplines and celebrates the history and culture of textiles, both traditional and contemporary. Established in 1982 as an educational charity, the Society gives support to students, designers, historians and practitioners though its educational and professional awards. The Society's Journal, TEXT is published annually.
JUNE - AUGUST 2014 SUGAR METROPOLIS, HARLEM, NYC 'New York Sugar Metropolis' is a giant collaborative project devised by international sculptors Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels. The exhibition is hosted by NO LONGER EMPTY at a new artspace in the Sugar Hill district of Harlem. Sugar Metropolis is open to the public to contribute and is on display until Sunday August 10, 2014. It is located on the ground floor of the new Sugar Hill Museum of Art at Broadway Housing Communities, 404-414 West 155th Street, on the corner of St. Nicholas Avenue, Harlem, New York City. Opening hours: Thursday and Friday: 3-7pm. Saturday and Sunday: 1-6pm. FREE ENTRY. Project sponsored by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the New York office of the Northern Ireland Bureau and LuLu LoLo Productions. For further information CLICK HERE SUGAR METROPOLIS REVIEWED IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL HISTORY OF SUGAR METROPOLIS Official trailer for Sugar Metropolis [created by Design Ethos for the RUA] The 'Sugar Metropolis' project began in October 2013 as a giant collaborative project devised for the Royal Ulster Academy (RUA) by sculptor Brendan Jamison. Every visitor to the Ulster Museum was invited to participate in the creation of this large-scale sugar cube sculpture installation, enclosed within its own room as part of the RUA Annual Exhibition. Featuring half a million cubes, Sugar Metropolis was generously sponsored by KPMG, Arts & Business N.I. and Belfast City Council. Jamison outlined how "this special project celebrated the power of collaboration in art, unlocking the potential of thousands of minds working together in the realisation of an artwork beyond any one person's singular vision." Sugar Metropolis opened to the public on Friday 18 October 2013, with participation continuing until Sunday 17 November. With visitors coming to the Ulster Museum from all over the world, over 5,000 people contributed to the building of the sculpture. The completed Sugar Metropolis was on display until Sunday 5 January 2014 and received over 74,000 visitors. For further information please CLICK HERE
APRIL 2014 GERMANY: TEUFELSBERG FIELD STATION BERLIN Brendan Jamison's plastic block artworks from the INTELLIGENCE GATHERING exhibition at PS Squared Gallery, Belfast, Januray 2014. Photography © Tony Corey for Jamison Sculpture Studio Completed in April 2014, Brendan Jamison worked on an 18 month research project on Field Station Berlin, a Cold War American spy station built on Teufelsberg, an artificial hill in the Grunewald forest. The core of the research features 'intelligence reports' that Jamison has created through detailed analysis of the spy station with regular field trips to the site and extensive interviews with former intelligence operatives. Phase 1 culminated in a September 2013 exhibition at the WerkStadt Gallery, Berlin. Phase 2 was presented at PS Squared in Belfast during January 2014. For further information please CLICK HERE
TURNER PRIZE 2013 Brendan Jamison, Nicholas Serota and Carrie Neely. Photography © Christine Trueman MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 2013 TURNER PRIZE AWARD NIGHT Brendan Jamison with Sir Nicholas Serota, Director of Tate, at the Turner Prize award ceremony in Derry/Londonderry on Monday 2 December 2013. "It was wonderful chatting to Nicholas about the recent Henry Tate Mausoleum project, an intricate sugar cube carving installed in London's West Norwood Cemetery as part of the 'Curious' sculpture trail..." The Turner Prize exhibition continues at Ebrington Barracks until Sunday 5 January 2014. For images from the awards cermony please CLICK HERE
1 DECEMBER 2013 AMERICA: 8 PAGE INTERVIEW IN SCULPTURE MAGAZINE Published by the International Sculpture Center, New Jersey
Imagination in Hyper-Drive A conversation with Brendan Jamison. By Brian McAvera It's rare for Irish sculptors, particularly those from Northern Ireland, to have a high profile by the time they are in their early 30s, but Brendan Jamison, seemingly without effort, has propelled himself into the limelight and is unlikely to be dislodged in the near future. I say "seemingly" because Jamison makes everything look easy, which is, of course, the mark of the true professional. In fact, he is a meticulously hard worker and an unusually gifted artist who uses non-traditional sculptural materials. Over the past decade, he has shown across three continents, and he has a "nose" for the high profile, such as his sugar-cube sculptures of the Tate Gallery and No. 10 Downing Street (exhibited at that building). Jamison is quirky and shrewd - one of those rare sculptors whose work has a quiet sense of humor. He has also, unlike so many Irish male sculptors, managed to avoid the trap of an insistently phallic machismo. Jamison integrates his male and female selves. Watching his sculptural mutations is one of the pleasures of a critic's life. To view the entire 8 page feature please CLICK HERE
A DECADE OF CONSTRUCTION 10 YEARS OF JAMISON SCULPTURE STUDIO Every year features at least 5 exciting projects, but we've edited it down to just one sculpture/installation per year to represent a slice of the action over the past decade..... _______ 2013 _______ March 2013 CHINA: 3 BEIJING EXHIBITIONS During the month of March 2013, artist Brendan Jamison was in Beijing installing 3 exhibitions as part of China's annual Irish Wave festival, curated by Fion Gunn. A new series of sugar cube carvings on the theme of 'Walls and Borders' was on show at Creative Crossover China in the 798 Art District of Beijing. The three-part display comprised of the Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall and the Belfast Peace Walls. Across the street in the NuoArt Gallery, an orange wax digger bucket was on display in 'A Tale of Two Cities' exhibition. For further information please CLICK HERE _______ 2012 _______ October 2012 London: Royal British Society of Sculptors Belfast: Royal Ulster Academy of Arts In October 2012, Brendan Jamison was elected to the Royal British Society of Sculptors (RBS) and the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts (RUA). Pictured above: SUBMARIINES at the 'Interplanetary Revolutions' exhibiton in the Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast. _______ 2011 _______ July 2011 ENGLAND: Towner Museum of Contemporary Art EASTBOURNE TOWER (2008-2011) Brendan Jamison, sugar cubes. 500 x 700 x 800 cm, tower with river of sugar cubes. Installation at Towner Contemporary Art Museum, Eastbourne, England. Exhibition curated by Sanna Moore, 1 July to 18 September 2011. _______ 2010 _______ July 2010 London Festival of Architecture: Tate Modern and NEO Bankside in sugar cubes Sugar cube sculpture models commissioned by Native Land & Grosvenor for the 2010 London Festival of Architecture at the NEO Bankside Pavilion on the Southbank, London. NEO Bankside is designed by world-renowned architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. The original bankside power station was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott. It was transfomed into Tate Modern by Herzog and DeMeuron and opened to the public in 2000. Pictured above: TATE MODERN (2010) Brendan Jamison, carved sugar cubes, 100 x 200 x 140 cm. _______ 2009 _______ June 2009 BERLIN: The Reichstag Dome In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Norman Foster's dome that was added to The Reichstag back in 1999, the John Erickson Museum of Art (JEMA) invited Brendan Jamison to build a sugar-cube version of the glass and metal edifice. In homage to the iconic 1995 wrapping of The Reichstag (then domeless) by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, JEMA Director Sean Miller commissioned the production of a special wrapping fabric to cover the entire sugar sculpture and an unwrapping event took place at the front of The Reichstag. Several months later, JEMA travelled 'Reichstag Würfelzucker Kuppel' to the Samuel P. Harn Museum in Florida. _______ 2008 _______ March 2008 N. IRELAND: Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown Pictured above: IN-BETWEEN (2008) Brendan Jamison, wool over wood, installation at Millennium Court Arts Centre,Portadown, N. Ireland. RED TUNNEL: 212 x 500 x 600 cm. YELLOW SPIRAL STAIRCASE: 265 x 160 x 160 cm. BLUE BRIDGE: 180 x 392 x 120 cm. _______ 2007 _______ December 2007 BELFAST: Digger Bucket Series Pictured above: detail of DIGGER BUCKET SERIES (2007-2008) Brendan Jamison, microcrystalline and paraffin wax over wood, 15 sculptures, dimensions ranging from 30 x 20 x 25 cm to 76 x 70 x 58 cm. Queen Street Studios Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland. _______ 2006 _______ October 2006 INDIA: KHOJ, New Delhi Pictured above: AN OTHER WORLD (2006) Brendan Jamison, Site-specific installation at KHOJ, New Delhi, India, red wool bridge, blue wool railing, yellow wool ladder and red wool column. _______ 2005 _______
August 2005 BELFAST: Old Museum Arts Centre In August 2005, Jamison held his first solo exhibition with a series of works focusing on the game-play involved in navigating the art scene, both locally and globally. The five works from this project encouraged the audience to engage directly with the exhibits and employ their own strategies to advance in the fabricated art world! Pictured avove on the wall: 'Guess the Biennale' and in the centre of the gallery 'Artopoly'. For further information CLICK HERE _______ 2004 _______
June 2004 BELFAST: Organic Architecture Pictured above: detail images of IN-BETWEEN (2004) Brendan Jamison. Installation of 7 sugar cube sculptures with blue fabric, heights: 285 cm, 210 cm, 185cm, 180 cm, 150 cm, 120 cm and 95 cm. School of Art & Design, University of Ulster, Belfast.
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ON PERMANENT DISPLAY: 1. DOWNING STREET, LONDON Brendan Jamison's original carved sugar cube sculpture of NUMBER 10 is on display in the entrance hall of 10 Downing Street, behind the real front door. It has been on show since February 2012. The image above was taken moments before the sculpture was installed inside. For exhibition images please CLICK HERE
SCULPTURE ON PERMANENT DISPLAY
2. NEW YORK CITY Brendan Jamison's sugar carving of The Ulster Tower, Thiepval, France [Small] is on permanent display in a special cabinet in the lobby of The Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City. It is within walking distance of The Empire State Building, sitting on the corner of West 28th Street at 250 Fifth Avenue. The sculpture was purchased by the owner of the hotel.
The Ulster Tower is a memorial to soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division who died during the First World War. The tower's architecture is Scottish Baronial Style, one of Jamison's favourites to recreate in sugar cubes, especially the corner corbelled turrets.
SCULPTURES ON PERMANENT DISPLAY
3. KYIV, UKRAINE The Teacher's House, a carved sugar cube sculpture by Brendan Jamison, is on permanent display in the entrance lobby of the Teacher's House, 57 Volodymyr Street, Kyiv, Ukraine. Originally built in 1912 for the Kyiv Pedagogical Museum, the building famously hosted Ukraine’s first Parliament, the Central Council of Ukraine, from 1917-1918. The sculpture was commissioned by IZOLYATSIA Arts Foundation and it was donated to the Teacher's House on Friday November 4, 2016. Daily opening times: 10:00 to 17:00 Monday to Sunday. FREE ENTRY. For further images please CLICK HERE.
SCULPTURE ON PERMANENT DISPLAY
4. DALLAS, TEXAS On display since May 2021, Stretch is a series of 9 permanent steel and resin figures at the entrance lobby of The Victor, a new skyscraper in downtown Dallas. Location: 3039 Nowitzki Way, Dallas, TX 75219, United States. Open 9am to 7pm Monday to Thursday, 9am to 6pm on Fridays, 10am to 6pm on Saturdays and 1pm to 6pm on Sundays. For images and project details please CLICK HERE
SCULPTURES ON PERMANENT DISPLAY
5. NEWRY, N. IRELAND On display since December 2021, Flow is a permanent ceiling sculpture by Brendan Jamison. Location: Sticky Fingers Arts Centre, Upper Edward Street, Newry, Northern Ireland. Open 10am to 4pm Tuesday-Friday. For images and artwork description please CLICK HERE
SCULPTURE ON PERMANENT DISPLAY
6. STICKY FINGERS ARTS CENTRE, NEWRY, N. IRELAND During August/September 2021, Brendan Jamison used 10,000 little white rocks to create the outline of an astronaut on the rooftop of the Sticky Fingers Arts Centre, Upper Edward Street, Newry. For further info and images please CLICK HERE
SCULPTURE ON PERMANENT DISPLAY
7. BELFAST, N. IRELAND Brendan Jamison's Green Digger Bucket with Two Holes is on permanent display at the Royal Ulster Academy of Art's Diploma Collection. The sculpture is created from microcrystalline and paraffin wax over wood. Jamison was elected as an Associate Academcian in 2012 and donated this sculpture to the collection. The Academy's office and permanent collecion is located at 1 Rosemary Street, Belfast BT1 1QA. ARWORK ON PERMANENT DISPLAY
8. BELFAST, N. IRELAND Brendan Jamison was commissioned by Ove Arup & Partners International to create a portrait of their founder. Since November 2019, it has been on permanent display at the entrance lobby of their Belfast office at Bedford House, behind the city hall. The entire artwork has been created from recycled bottle tops, collected by staff during recycling week in September 2019. Jamison cut and carved the bottle caps to create the distinctive features of his face. With headquarters in London, the company was founded in 1946 by Sir Ove Arup (1895-1988), design engineer for architectural icons such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Sidney Opera House. Ove Arup & Partners International has over 14,000 staff in 92 offices worldwide, making it one of the largest engineering companies on the planet. On the lower left of the portrait, a quote by Ove Arup reads: "We must look beyond the narrow object and ask ourselves: What would happen if everybody else did what we do. Would that serve humanity? Much has been destroyed already...but the alarm has sounded...The battle is on, and it is a crucial battle for mankind” - Ove Arup For further images please CLICK HERE
ARWORK ON PERMANENT DISPLAY
9. BELFAST, N. IRELAND Sir Henry Tate's Mausoleum, a carved sugar cube sculpture by Brendan Jamison, is on display in the entrance lobby of the Belfast Model School for Girls in Northern Ireland. The sculpture took 3 months to carve and is part of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Contemporary Art Collection. In 1897, As a gift to the nation, sugar cube manufacturer Henry Tate donated his art collection and the funds to build the first Tate Gallery, now known as Tate Britain in London. Jamison’s intricate carving features detailed lettering through a pioneering technique he developed specifically for the project. It was originally exhibited at West Norwood Cemetery in London, the burial place of Sir Henry Tate. This carved sugar cube sculpture was published by Oxford University Press in a hardback encyclopedia of 897 pages: ‘The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets’, edited by Darra Goldstein (ISBN 978-0-19-931339-6).
10. NORTH DOWN MUSEUM, N. IRELAND BANGOR CASTLE TOWN HALL by Brendan Jamison. A carved sugar cube sculpture commissioned by North Down Borough Council. On permanent display in North Down Museum, Bangor, Northern Ireland. Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10:00am to 4:30pm. Sunday 12:00pm to 4:30pm. ADMISSION FREE. For further images please CLICK HERE
SCULPTURE ON PERMANENT DISPLAY
MEDIA COVERAGE From America to China, Denmark to Singapore, over the past 20 years, Jamison's art practice has received over 1,000 pieces of media coverage across television, radio, newspaper and magazine articles. CLICK HERE FOR REVIEWS/PUBLICATIONS ARCHIVE HIGHLIGHTS: 20 YEARS OF REVIEWS The Architectural Review, London, June 2021, p. 10, ISSN 0003-861X
SugarCraft, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, March 2021, pp. 2, 3 & 10 August 2020: The Grocer Magazine: Sugar Edition, pages 32-33 September 29, 2018: Interview on UATV: Ukraine September 13, 2016: 5 Kanal (Channel 5) Ukraine August 9, 2016: CBS - KUTV 2 News, USA July 18, 2016: Sugar America project on ABC 4 News, USA July 18, 2016: Sugar America project on FOX 13 News, USA June 2, 2016: Neal McCullough's satircial cartoon of Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels' Sugar America tour in the County Down Spectator, Northern Ireland June 2, 2016: County Down Spectator, Northern Ireland May 28, 2016: The Irish News, Belfast, Northern Ireland March 17, 2016: New York sugar cube installation featured in the Chelsea Now newspaper, p. 21 4 November 2015: Centre Pompidou exhibition rewiew in the The Irish Times, p. 14 April/May 2015: Make Magazine, San Francisco, USA 19 March 2015: Exclusive BBC Two interview at Jamison Sculpture Studio. Broadcast on The Arts Show. 25 June 2014: DaiMohk TV, Chechen Republic [Language: Russian] (1 minute, 25 seconds) 6 June 2014: The Wall Street Journal, New York City 13 May 2014: Discovery Channel, Canada (2 minutes, 36 seconds) 27 February 2014: Bloomberg TV, America (37 seconds) December 2013. May 2011. April 2011. July/August 2009 18 September 2013 Northern Ireland: UTV: Sunday 12 May 2013, UTV broadcasted an interview on 'The Magazine' show between Sarah Travers and sculptor Brendan Jamison at his Belfast sculpture studio. To view the short film and production photos please CLICK HERE ITV DAYBREAK NEWS: 12 June 2012 UTV NEWS, 19 January 2012 THE OBSERVER, 26 February and 30 December 2012 May 2012
10 November 2008 and 18 January 2011 HONG KONG: Appetite for Design: Eat Me, January 2012 BBC NEWS South East, 1 July 2011
2010, 2011, 2012
23 October 2009 and 30 June 2010
Summer 2008 and Autumn 2008
26 May 2007
2004, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2016
2004, 2009
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All photographs and content © Brendan Jamison 2000-2024. Jamison Sculpture Studio, Belfast, Northern Ireland
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