David Breuer-Weil (born 1965) is an artist from London whose work is exhibited worldwide. He works in different media including large canvases and monumental bronze sculptures.
David Breuer-Weil studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London from 1985 and was taught by Shelley Faussett, one of Henry Moore's assistants. He later studied English literature at Clare College, Cambridge. Following graduation, he was awarded a bursary at Sotheby's, where he was trained in various departments.
Breuer-Weil has emerged as one of the leading contemporary British sculptors. Iconic works, including Brothers and Alien have been displayed to great public and critical acclaim. Breuer-Weil’s monumental sculptures have been installed in major public spaces in London including Hampstead Heath, Hanover Square, Grosvenor Gardens, Marble Arch, Mayfair and around the world. Visitor, Visitor II and Alien were exhibited by Sotheby’s in 2010, 2011 and 2013 at their Beyond Limits exhibitions at Chatsworth House and his sculptures and two-dimensional works have been exhibited with the National Trust. In 2016-2017 Breuer-Weil exhibited at the Jewish Museum, London alongside Edmund de Waal and Hans Coper. In 2017 Christie’s held a solo show of monumental Breuer-Weil sculpture that was held at various locations across London; Cavendish Square, St. Pancras, Portman Square and the Economist Plaza. In 2018, Flight, was installed in Marble Arch (and later on at St Pancras New Church, opposite Euston Station). Breuer-Weil’s Visitor II was exhibited in 2019 as part of The Child Within Me, Abdülmecid Efendi Pavilion, Istanbul, to coincide with the Istanbul Biennial. Alien II was exhibited in New Bond Street, London in 2021 and in 2022 Visitor V and Visitor I were installed in Berkeley Square, London.
Breuer-Weil is also famed for his monumental solo shows of large-scale painted canvases, “The Projects”. ‘The Project’ was held at the Roundhouse, Camden in 2001; ‘Project 2’ at the Bargehouse, OXO Tower in 2003; ‘Project 3’ was held in conjunction with the Ben Uri Gallery and Museum in 2007 and in 2013 ‘Project 4’ was exhibited in The Vaults, Waterloo.
A film about the artist, The King of Nerac, directed by Annie Sulzberger, was premiered in 2015 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London and in New York at the Lincoln Center. Variety describes the film as delivering “a remarkably detailed study of one man’s artistic process … his huge statues and canvases invites bigscreen play”. [1] Skira published the monograph David Breuer-Weil: Radical Visionary in 2011 and in 2020 Gli Ori (Italy) published David Breuer-Weil Golden Drawings. Breuer-Weil lives and works in London.
Breuer-Weil has labelled his collections of work as 'Project 1', 'Project 2', etc. 'Project 1' was completed during 1997–2001 and exhibited in the crypt of the Roundhouse in Camden Town, London. 'Project 2' (2003) was exhibited at the Bargehouse on the South Bank of the River Thames. 'Project 3' (2007) was exhibited in a disused multi-storey car park in Covent Garden. 'Project 4' (2007–2011), included themes of homeland, territory and belonging, and its motifs included fire, water, boxes, scrolls, books, feet, bricks, bubbles and Buddha-like seated figures. [2]
In 2010 Breuer-Weil exhibited Visitor at Sotheby's 'Beyond Limits' selling exhibition at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire. [3] Visitor is a self-portrait sculpture of the top half of Breuer-Weil's head. The artist's fingerprints are greatly enlarged on the surface of the sculpture.
Breuer-Weil exhibited Visitor II at the 2011 'Beyond Limits' show, also at Chatsworth House. [4] In Visitor II, Breuer-Weil presents a giant human form that has landed on the earth from above, an alien or fallen angel.
Breuer-Weil claimed, "With Visitor II I wanted to create a piece with the timeless simplicity of the Avebury Stones or Stonehenge, but infused with humanity and dynamism, and with a sense of the mystical and primeval... At the same time I have this idea of the absurdity of the human condition, a Monty Python-like surreal sense of humor that is part of the way I view reality." [5]
In an interview with James Hyman, Breuer-Weil commented, "I find that sculpting in clay is in some ways more like painting than painting itself… I am definitely aware of the rich history and symbolism of making figures out of the earth, out of clay, because according to most ancient sources, notably the Bible, the first man was literally made out of earth and in fact the very word Adam means earth: there is the almost alchemical idea that when you use paint or clay you are creating a life force.". [6]
David Breuer-Weil: Radical Visionary was published by Skira, Milan, in August 2011. [7] It covers the history of Breuer-Weil's career. It is currently (2013) the only monograph on Breuer-Weil's work. It includes images of over 200 works, essays by art historians Monica Bohm-Duchen, James Hyman, Ben Hanly, Richard Aronowitz, Susie Stanton Staikos, Simon Blomfield and John Russell Taylor.
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