Vincent Woropay

Vincent Woropay (4 December 1951 – 12 June 2002) was an English sculptor and teacher.

Life
"Hand of the River God" (1984)

Woropay was born in London, of Polish parents. He studied fine art at Brighton Polytechnic, gaining a first class honours degree in 1977, and at the Slade School of Fine Art he obtained a higher diploma in 1979. He was a fellow of the British School at Rome from 1979 to 1981.[1][2] He was a lecturer at Middlesex Polytechnic from 1981 to 1991, and from 1991 was a senior lecturer at the Wimbledon School of Art.[1]

Woropay died of cancer of the thorax, aged 50, in 2002.[2]

Works

In an obituary, Anthony Howell wrote that Woropay's sculptures "give material form to a fluidity between reality and imagination more usually associated with language and literature.... His art was an attempt to capture what is fleeting... or to suggest the passing of the monumental."[2] Woropay's works include the following:

"Hand of the River God", of 1984, is situated at the quayside of Baltic Wharf in Bristol. It is a colossal hand holding up a fountain between fingers and thumb.[3]

"Capo", a head of Josiah Wedgwood carved out of bricks, was commissioned for the 1986 Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival. It was moved in 2009 to Festival Way near Etruria Hall, once Josiah Wedgwood's home.[2][4] After its demolition was mistakenly ordered during road-widening work in January 2023, plans for its restoration were announced by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in June 2023.[5]

"Wattilisk", of 1988, was commissioned by Birmingham City Council. The sculpture has five surmounted portrait heads of James Watt in differing stages of abstraction, its form having an affinity with Egyptian obelisks.[6]

"Hand with Chronos", a giant hand with a small figure in its palm, was commissioned for the 1990 Gateshead Garden Festival, and was later moved to Stoke-on-Trent railway station.[2][7]

References
  1. "Vincent Woropay" Art UK. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  2. Anthony Howell. Vincent Woropay obituary The Guardian, 5 July 2002.
  3. "Hand of the River God" Art UK. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  4. "Capo (Josiah Wedgwood 1730–1795)" Art UK. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  5. "Josiah sculpture set to be rebuilt" The Sentinel, 12 June 2023, via PressReader. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  6. "Wattilisk" Art UK. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  7. "A hidden sculpture at Stoke-on-Trent station" Art UK, 9 January 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
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