About Guy
As a sculptor working in lime wood, Reid's work is informed by the figure in relation to its spatial, thematic and narrative contexts. His carvings are more often then not, left in the natural wood but can be both painted or partially painted.
Whilst studying for his MA in Theology at King's College London in 1995, Reid undertook a thesis on the relationship between revelation and art. The philosophical debate surrounding this subject has been a significant influence on his work and he has since lectured on the subject.
Reid is facinated by Christain religious narrative and symbolism. Whilst suspicious of religion and its dangers, Reid feels that religion remains (at a profoundly subconscious level) something human beings search for, are intrigued by and engaged with both positively and negatively.
His universalising of traditional religious imagery such as the Madonna and Child, The Crucifixion and Adam, strip away the sentimentality and exclusivity of many of the traditional religious archetypes he refers to, but from within a theologically informed framework. It is this aspect of Reid's work which confuses and challenges both secular and religious interpretation.
Reid works from both live models and photographs and his early works were often framed in a variety of inanimate, abstract settings. When working on portraits, the engagement he has with the individuals who sit for him is central to the work. His repeated studies of his partner Andrew represent a tender and questioning examination of a life shared and form the central focus for recent works. It is the the body itself, both naked and clothed which facinates Reid, evoking the complex nature of being human. At times Reid's work carries an irresistible, contemplative force. Art critics have described certain pieces as beautiful and ugly in almost the same breath.
Reid's relief carvings and studies function like and bare a close relation to the preparatory drawings traditionally used by sculptors. The illusion of depth is created by a play with shadow, light and perspective.
Reid lives and works in the countryside south of Toulouse with his partner Andrew, two dogs and a cat. Silence and space remain central to his work.
Education and Exposure
Arriving from South Africa in 1967 aged 4, Reid was educated at the Priory Comprehensive Wimbledon. In 1975 he moved to Shropshire where he attended Meole Brace Secondary Modern School Shrewsbury and later the Priory Grammer School.
Having completed his first degree in Politics and History at North London Polytechnic he commenced an apprenticeship with the Spink Restoration workshop. In 1995 he completed an MA in Systematic Theology at King's College London.
Reid's reputation was established in the 1990s, with his first Solo Show in the summer of 1999 receiving strong reviews. Other exhibitions followed in London, Manchester, Yorkshire, Birmingham and Liverpool, and internationally in New York, Toulouse and Paris.
Public commissions include the controversial and much acclaimed nude Madonna and Child at St Matthew's Westminster, a figure of Adam for Mirfield College, Yorkshire, a sculpture of St Editha for Polesworth Abbey, 14 lifesize portraits held permanetly at the Avoncroft Museum Bromsgrove and a portrait of the painter Glynn Boyd Harte for the Art Workers Guild London. In 2006 Reid completed a naked crucifixiton for Saint George's Church Paris. A life sized relief carving of the same subject is currently being considered for installation by a Bendedictine abbey in the UK.
Reid's Madonna and Child has been featured in many publications and is also on the cover of the book, Art and Worship (SPCK, 2002).
Reid has been the subject of a documentary for Japanese Television on Contemporary British Artists and appears in Michael Petry's anthology Hidden Histories (www.hiddenhistories.net) published by Artmedia Press 2004. The Museum of Liverpool Life lists Reid's Avoncroft corbels as being of international significance. One of these 14 life-sized portraits is of Reid himself and is featured on the National Portrait Gallery's Self-Portrait UK website.
Reid's work can be found in important private collections worldwide.
Guy Reid lives and works in both Benque d'Aurignac and Toulouse in the South of France
4 comments:
In response Reid states how, 'this proves once again the importance for artists to make fearless works which challenge religious intolerence and narrow mindedness all its guises.'
Proves that Guy's work remains relevant and chanllenging for our times. Reminds us of the times when the holy fathers proscribed against artists like El Greco because he "dared" to pain angels and objects above the head of God or Christ. May love and Christ triumph over religious facism.
You guys who label Guy's work blasphemous would probably have called the writer of the Book of Genesis blasphemous too, for depicting Adam and Eve as nude in the Garden of Eden. Nudity can be used as a profound theological reflection. Some artists crudely use it for shock value. But you must learn to tell when it is serious and spiritual - as it most certainly is in Guy's work. For what it's worth, I wrote a piece in a British newspaper - http://www.newstatesman.com/200102050039 - that explores the difference.
The real blasphemy is the denile of the incarnation. It is that which permits religions to oppress human beings in the name of God.
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