John Pickering was born in Wolverhampton in 1934 and trained in classical sculpture and life drawing at Bilston and Birmingham Schools of Art. For a number of years following art school, he worked as a stone carver on projects including St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham, and as an assistant in a wood pattern-making factory.
During the 70's Pickering found intuitive art an increasingly inadequate vehicle for his ideas. So, he turned to the rigour of geometry and more specifically, the inversion principle: (MP.MQ=MR2). It is inversion's infinite generation of spatial transformations and sensual curves which has formed the basis of much of his subsequent work.
He worked in isolation for many years, with his work being exhibited for the first time in 2002 at the Royal Society of British Sculptors in London. Since then there have been several exhibitions and the publication of a book 'Mathematical Form, John Pickering and the Architecture of the Inversion Principle' by the Architectural Association in 2006.
John always hoped his work could be made on a large scale and in June 2016 he was asked if he could attend a meeting with a view to him producing a piece of public art for a prestigious landmark building in the centre of Birmingham. He was able to go to London to meet with the architects and the developer to discuss the project and was delighted to be informed that he would be appointed.
A further meeting was arranged but sadly John passed away a week before it could take place. However he knew that after all the years of struggle his work would at last be recognised and that he would leave a legacy in a city that had great personal significance for him. John had already commenced work on this commission with his long time collaborator, the architect, George Legendre, and this has enabled the work to continue following John's death. The commission is due to be completed for the opening of the building in Autumn 2020.
During the 70's Pickering found intuitive art an increasingly inadequate vehicle for his ideas. So, he turned to the rigour of geometry and more specifically, the inversion principle: (MP.MQ=MR2). It is inversion's infinite generation of spatial transformations and sensual curves which has formed the basis of much of his subsequent work.
He worked in isolation for many years, with his work being exhibited for the first time in 2002 at the Royal Society of British Sculptors in London. Since then there have been several exhibitions and the publication of a book 'Mathematical Form, John Pickering and the Architecture of the Inversion Principle' by the Architectural Association in 2006.
John always hoped his work could be made on a large scale and in June 2016 he was asked if he could attend a meeting with a view to him producing a piece of public art for a prestigious landmark building in the centre of Birmingham. He was able to go to London to meet with the architects and the developer to discuss the project and was delighted to be informed that he would be appointed.
A further meeting was arranged but sadly John passed away a week before it could take place. However he knew that after all the years of struggle his work would at last be recognised and that he would leave a legacy in a city that had great personal significance for him. John had already commenced work on this commission with his long time collaborator, the architect, George Legendre, and this has enabled the work to continue following John's death. The commission is due to be completed for the opening of the building in Autumn 2020.
