Phillip King

Phillip King (1934-2021), born in Tunisia, was a British sculptor who worked in many different media including ceramic, steel and wood, and later also plastics and PVC. He was a key member of the group of young artists in Britain who re-imagined sculpture from the 1960s onwards and was an innovator and educator throughout his career.

From 1957 – 1958 King studied at St Martin’s School of Art (1957-58), where Anthony Caro was teaching. King himself then taught at St Martin’s for a year before working as an assistant to Henry Moore, an experience which provided crucial opportunity for the younger artist to work on a larger scale.

Phillip King’s work was included in the seminal Primary Structures exhibition at Jewish Museum, New York in 1966, a turning point in contemporary sculpture, alongside American artists Carl Andre, Anthony Caro, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Robert Morris and Robert Smithson. Through this exhibition King was introduced to the concept of environmental sculpture; works constructed to involve or encompass viewers. As a result, his own work started to spread across the floor and lean against walls.

Phillip King represented Great Britain at the 1968 Venice Biennale, alongside Bridget Riley, and has also been the subject of numerous museum shows including at Whitechapel Gallery, London (1968), Kröller Muller National Museum, Netherlands (1974), Hayward Gallery, London (1981), Le Consortium, Dijon (2013), His work is included in public collections worldwide including National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh; Tate, London; MoMA, New York; Pompidou, Paris; MOCA, LA; and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam amongst many others.