Outspread, 1991
Clement Meadmore was an Australian sculptor known for his work in steel. His art is associated with abstract expressionism and minimalism, and he was a part of the abstract expressionism and minimalism movements. Born in 1929 in Melbourne, Australia, Meadmore studied at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne. He later moved to New York City, where he continued his artistic career. Meadmore passed away in 2005 in Manhattan. His works are exhibited in the Anita Shapolsky Gallery, the Columbus Gallery of Fine Art, and the Davenport Municipal Art Gallery.
Clement Meadmore is one of the most highly respected artists of his generation, for both the quality of his work and the integrity of his commitment to public sculpture. This sculptor has been uniquely successful as a creator of public art that serves as a positive, unifying force in the environment.
Although initially linked with the Minimalists, Clement Meadmore transcended geometry with work of uncommon force and elegance, powerful in large scale and small. It relies for its effect on the opposition between line and mass, also deriving power and eloquence from its fusion of formal invention with intense feeling, a frankly spiritual dimension. Yet ultimately the appeal of Clement Meadmore’s work lies in its success as sheer form.
The artist has managed to overcome geometry’s qualities of stasis, containment, rigor, and sobriety. His sculptures deny their physical reality, suggesting weightlessness. Because of this extroverted and animated character, his public commissions provide oases of humanity in the urban environment. He himself has stated: “A building is part of the environment, but a sculpture is a presence inhabiting the environment.”
Clement Meadmore’s works range in size from those that fit in the palm of a hand to others that stretch more than forty-six feet, not to mention a proposal for a six-hundred-foot skyscraper sculpture. This range in scale is belied by the seeming monumentality and robust physicality of even the smallest maquette.