Hamish Mackie

Last updated

Hamish Mackie Sculptor Hamish Mackie working on Leopards in a Tree.jpeg
Hamish Mackie

Hamish Mackie (born October 1973) is a British wildlife sculptor who works in bronze, silver and any other castable metal using the lost-wax casting method. He is considered to be one of the world's foremost wildlife sculptors. [1] Largely self-taught, Mackie captures his subjects - ranging from livestock to birds via wild animals - by observation in a natural environment, taking detailed photographs and sometimes modelling in plasticine. From this he creates a highly accurate anatomical core covered with a loose, almost impressionistic skin that captures the essence of the animal's personality. He has won numerous commissions including works for Jilly Cooper, Charles Saatchi, Ronnie Wood (private) and RSPCA, National Trust, Woburn Abbey, Merrill Lynch, Hiscox and most recently the Berkeley Group Holdings (public). [2] He has travelled to places including Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, Australia, across Africa, and the United Arab Emirates in search of subjects. [3]

Contents

Biography

Early life

Hamish Mackie was born in Reading, England in 1973. His father was in the British Army, so the family spent the first years of Mackie's life living in both Hong Kong and the UK, before settling permanently on a farm in Lostwithiel, Cornwall [4] in 1978. From an early age Mackie was tasked with many farm duties, including looking after livestock. [5]

Education

After prep school Mackie went to Radley College, where he found the support of its Art Department. Paul Kilsby, his sculpture teacher, acknowledged Mackie's strength in capturing the dynamic animal form. Mackie made his first sale during his A-level show: two clay lambs for £50 to a family friend. [6]

The buyer took the lambs to Simon Allison at the Lockbund Sculpture Foundry to be cast in bronze, introducing him to one of the most important working relationships of his career. 'Simon called me up and asked me if I wanted to sign them. I drove up to meet him and see their lost-wax casting process.' This began a working relationship that has lasted to this day. [7]

In 1992 Mackie did a foundation course at Falmouth University followed by, in 1993, a BA in Product and Furniture Design at Kingston University. He paid his way by selling his sculptures, for example Tregothnan Estates commissioned Mackie to do a buzzard, followed by an otter for Trewithen Estates.[ citation needed ]

Tiger Walking Tiger Walking by Hamish Mackie.tiff
Tiger Walking

After university, Mackie travelled extensively in Africa, and in 1995 he took a job in a hunting camp in Zimbabwe. He observed how environment impacts character, particularly the distinction between a wild animal and one in captivity. His interest led him to the conservationist Ian Craig in Kenya, backed by TUSK, an organisation he still supports. [8] Face to face with African wildlife, the urge to sculpt overcame him and he created a cheetah head out of beeswax and paraffin.

Career

Mackie returned to the UK determined to sculpt full-time. He met with the renowned wildlife sculptor Mark Coreth, carrying his wax cheetah head under his arm. From there Mackie met with Simon Allison again to explore the prospect of casting his models in bronze for commercial sale. Allison was confident enough in Mackie's skills to defer payment until he started to sell. [7] In 1996 Mackie moved closer to the foundry in Oxfordshire, and entered into the Art for Youth competition where he won the "Diana Brooks Prize". The following year

He was accepted into the Royal Academy's "Summer Exhibition", [9] following on from his first solo show with Fanshawe Somerset, London. Several successful solo shows followed, and in 2010 his solo show, also at the Cork Street Gallery, outperformed most of the galleries at Frieze Art Fair that year. [10]

Andalusian stallion, Goodman's Fields, London Goodmans Andalusian Stallion by Hamish Mackie.jpeg
Andalusian stallion, Goodman's Fields, London

In 2013 Mackie landed his most important public commission to date: six life and a quarter-size horses designed to look as though they are galloping through the Berkeley Group Holdings development in Goodman's Fields, in the Spitalfields district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in east London. The sculptures were revealed at the end of June 2015 [11] and in 2016, Mackie was awarded the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association's (PMSA) annual Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture and Public Fountains. [12]

Mackie's work was exhibited at the opening of the Clarendon Fine Art gallery in Hampstead, London alongside work from prominent contemporary artists, Todd White, Sherree Valentine-Daines and Christian Hook. [13]

Artistic style

Mackie's sculptures are distinctive for a highly accurate anatomical core covered by a loose, almost impressionistic skin. He is capable of turning his hand to almost any creature, as his extensive range of work reveals. [14]

This loose style allows him to highlight the differences in, for instance muscle groups, hair texture and even capture character via a careful working of eyes, nose and other defining features. [5] His sculpting style is underpinned by a striking sympathy with animal kind.

He has stated, "Having spent so much time studying wildlife in its natural environment, I've developed a true understanding of animal behaviour [8] ". Indeed, when in the field in places like Africa and Antarctica, as well as his camera, he will also take plasticine with him. [15]

Exhibitions

Past exhibitions

Selected commissions

Major Public Commission: Six bronze horses, life and a quarter size, for Berkeley Homes' Goodman’s Fields development in London. [19]

Family

Roe Deer sculptures in a natural setting Roe Deer by Hamish Mackie.jpeg
Roe Deer sculptures in a natural setting

Mackie is married with three daughters. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Woodrow</span> British sculptor

Bill Woodrow is a British sculptor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rembrandt Bugatti</span> Italian sculptor

Rembrandt Bugatti was an Italian sculptor, known primarily for his bronze sculptures of wildlife subjects. During World War I, he volunteered for paramedical work at a military hospital in Antwerp, an experience that triggered in Bugatti the onset of depression, aggravated by financial problems, which eventually caused him to commit suicide on 8 January 1916 in Paris, France when he was 31 years old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Moore</span> English artist known for sculpture (1898–1986)

Henry Spencer Moore was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore also produced many drawings, including a series depicting Londoners sheltering from the Blitz during the Second World War, along with other graphic works on paper.

Ronald Moody was a Jamaican-born sculptor, specialising in wood carvings. His work features in collections including the National Portrait Gallery and Tate Britain in London, as well as the National Gallery of Jamaica. He was the brother of anti-racist campaigner Harold Moody and award-winning physiologist Ludlow Moody.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergio Peraza</span>

Sergio Andres Peraza Avila is an artist sculptor from Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferdinand Blundstone</span> British sculptor

Ferdinand Victor Blundstone (1882–1951) was a Swiss-born sculptor who worked in England. His father was Charles Blundstone, an India rubber merchant who was born in Manchester, England. He studied at the South London Technical Art School and Royal Academy Schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Thorsen</span> American painter and sculptor (born 1967)

Eric Thorsen is an American painter and sculptor known for his wildlife sculpture and fish carvings which have won him multiple awards at major art shows nationwide including "Best In World" at the 1992 World Taxidermy & Fish Carving Championships. At age 24 he is the youngest recipient of this award. Breakthrough magazine described him as "More than Promising" and his work has "an uncanny realism". Thorsen has appeared on TV shows and YouTube and his artwork can be found in prominent public spaces, private collections, and on product labels. He has been commissioned to create artwork for corporate entities such as Nike Inc.,Lowe's, Coca-Cola, Walt Disney Attractions, Inc. and national non profit groups. He is a resident of Bigfork, Montana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurence Broderick</span> British sculptor (1935–2024)

Laurence Broderick was a British sculptor. His best known work is 'The Bull', a public sculpture erected in 2003 at the Bull Ring, Birmingham. The Bull is about 4.5 meters long, about 220 cm high and weighs about 6.5 tons. It is one of the largest bronze animal sculptures in the country. His work consists largely of figurative carvings in stone and editions in bronze.

Elsa Fraenkel née Rothschild (1892–1975) was a German–born British sculptor raised in Heidelberg, Germany.

Angela Conner FRSS is an English sculptor who works in London. Conner has exhibited internationally and has large scale sculptures in public and private collections around the world.

Helaine Blumenfeld is an American sculptor particularly known for her large-scale public sculptures. She creates works primarily in marble and bronze but also in granite and other materials. Examples of her work are in the collections of Clare College, Cambridge, the Courtauld Gallery and the Smithsonian. Amongst her large-scale public works are Family in granite installed in Henry Reuss Federal Plaza in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Tempesta in marble at The Lancasters, London; and Fortuna in bronze at Canary Wharf, London. A fellow and past vice president of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, Blumenfeld was awarded an Honorary OBE in 2011. She lives in the United Kingdom and works there and in Pietrasanta, in Tuscany in central Italy.

Les Lalanne is the term for the French artist team of François-Xavier Lalanne (1927–2008) and Claude Lalanne (1924–2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Clatworthy (sculptor)</span>

Robert Ernest Clatworthy RA was a British sculptor and teacher of art. He was head of the fine art department at the Central School of Art and Design in London from 1971 to 1975, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Parker (artist)</span> American wildlife sculptor and painter (born 1959)

Daniel Ray Parker is an American wildlife sculptor and painter. Parker has won multiple awards for wildlife sculpture at major art shows in the United States. He is a resident of Kalispell, Montana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Smith (sculptor)</span> British sculptor (born 1984)

Anthony Smith is a British sculptor who works in bronze. He is known for his wildlife sculptures as well as his depictions of well-known figures, including Charles Darwin, Ian Fleming, and Alfred Russel Wallace. He has been awarded major public commissions including the design of a new £2 coin for the Royal Mint, the first new statue for London's Natural History Museum in more than eighty years, and a life-sized statue of Charles Darwin for Christ's College, Cambridge. In addition, he is a wildlife photographer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendra Haste</span> British sculptor

Kendra Haste is a British wildlife artist who produces both public and privately commissioned sculptures using galvanised chicken wire mesh to create wire sculptures of wild animals. She is a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists, the Royal British Society of Sculptors and the Society of Animal Artists. She lives in Surrey, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Yale Harris</span> American sculptor (b. 1936)

Mark Yale Harris is an American sculptor, and a former businessperson. He is working primarily in stone and bronze for his art. Beginning his professional life in the business sector, in 1972 Harris co-founded and was executive vice president of Red Roof Inns. In 1991, he founded AmeriSuites Hotels, where he served as CEO. He lives and works in the Roaring Fork Valley region of Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Zealey</span> British sculptor

Samuel Zealey is a British sculptor known for creating permanent public artworks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gadi Fraiman</span> Israeli artist and sculptor

Gadi Fraiman is an Israeli sculptor and painter. He is best known for his work with painted bronze sculptures, which incorporate movement and interact with the environment. He owns the studio Gadi Fraiman Sculpture Garden - Art gallery in Mishmar David, Israel, where he displays his work.

References

  1. "Art to See this October". Country Life. Time Inc. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Commissions". Hamish Mackie. Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  3. "Bronze Camel is a Statuesque Tribute to the UAE". The National. Abu Dhabi Media. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  4. Buckman, David (2006). Dictionary of artists in Britain since 1945 (New ed.). Bristol [England]: Art Dictionaries. p. 56. ISBN   095326095X.
  5. 1 2 "Hamish Mackie: Sculpting the Wild". Huffington Post. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  6. "British Sculptor Hamish Mackie unveils his latest". RHS. Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Hamish Mackie". Fieldsports Magazine. BPG Media. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Hamish Mackie: A Life in the Field". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  9. "About the Summer Exhibition | Royal Academy of Arts".
  10. "Mackie Tops October Sales". The Telegraph. The Telegraph Group. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  11. "Sculptor Hamish Mackie's remarkable bronze horses". The Field. Time Inc. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  12. "Marsh Award 2016 PMSA". www.pmsa.org.uk. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  13. "Clarendon Fine Art opens in Hampstead". London Live. 1 April 2019. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  14. "Hamish Mackie works". Collier Dobson. Collier Dobson. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  15. "Hamish Mackie's Animals as Art Exhibit". The Robb Report. Robb Media. 28 December 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  16. "Past exhibitions". Hamish Mackie. Hamish Mackie. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  17. "Striking stallion sculpture arrives at Blenheim Palace". The Oxford Times. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  18. "Sculpt at Kew | Kew". www.kew.org. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  19. "Stunning Sculptures are Best of British". Banbury Guardian. Johnston Publishing. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  20. "About Hamish Mackie". Hamish Mackie. Hamish Mackie. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.