Denis Mitchell - Ascending Forms

From the late 1940s, Sculptor Denis Mitchell (1912 – 1993) was central to the group of St Ives Modernists artists. Renowned for his dynamic polished bronzes, Mitchell evolved a visual language that was inspired by his intimate knowledge of working in and on the landscape. In 1930 Mitchell moved from Swansea to the Cornish artistic colony to start market gardening and to paint. But his experiences of tin mining during the war and his tenure as chief assistant to Barbara Hepworth between1949-59 soon inspired him to carve. Working initially with wood, slate and stone, Mitchell eventually found his own forms in sand-cast bronze. His implicit understanding of the balance of line and form created by the interplay of light and surface imbues Mitchell’s tall abstract sculptures with a unique vitality.

The exhibition at Tate St Ives placed in complement with the work of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham draws together ten of Mitchell's celebrated bronzes from the 1960s and 70s and several carvings in wood, slate and stone from the 1970s and 80s.

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Denis Mitchell - Ascending Forms