Dawn Rowland

Dawn Rowland FRBS has worked as a sculptor in London, San Francisco and since 1975 in the Manchester area. Her sculptures are primarily in stone, but she also works in bronze, wood, terracotta and plaster. She has been interviewed twice on BBC’s “Women’s Hour”, once in 2004 regarding her poignant and monumental sculpture commissioned by Nicola Horlick, also in 1988 as a result of having three carvings exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. She was presented to the Queen in 1993 at the opening of “Chelsea Harbour Sculpture 1993”. Elected a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors in 1991, she was elected onto Council in 1993 and served on Council until early 1999. She was made a Fellow of the Society in 1994. Her sculptures and drawings are in private collections throughout Europe, Japan, the United States, Australia and Canada.

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Membership of Professional Societies:

Royal British Society of Sculptors
Member since 1991: Fellow since 1994: Council Member 1993-1999

Manchester Academy of Fine Arts:
Member since 1977 Council Member 1980-1999

Manchester Academy of Fine Arts Annual Open Exhibition:
Selection Committee: 2000, 1997,1996, 1995, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1989, 1988, 1984, 1982
Hanging Committee: 2000, 1998,1997,1996,1995, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1983

National Artists Association Member since 1985

Awards:

2004 The Joe Davies Award –Manchester Academy of Fine Arts
1993 The Addleshaw Sons & Latham Award – Manchester Academy of Fine Arts
1986 The National Westminster Bank Award – Manchester Academy of Fine Arts
1985 The Coopers & Lybrand Award – Manchester Academy of Fine Arts Exhibition

Exhibitions – Solo:

2014 Wendy J. Levy Contemporary Art Manchester
2012 Wendy J. Levy Contemporary Art Manchester
2010 Wendy J. Levy Contemporary Art Manchester
2007 Wendy J. Levy Contemporary Art Manchester
2005 Wendy J. Levy Contemporary Art Manchester
2000 Davies & Tooth at The Air Gallery Dover Street London
2000 Royal College of Physicians, London
1993-94 Konishi Gallery, Kyoto Japan
1986 The Ginnel Gallery Manchester
1984 Salford Art Gallery
1983 Pitcairn Galleries Knutsford Cheshire

Exhibitions – Mixed:

2014 Newby Hall Sculpture Park, Yorkshire
2014 annually from 2006 Wendy J. Levy Contemporary Art
2012 Sculptors Drawings and Works on Paper – Kings Place, London
2005 Renishaw Sculpture Garden
2004 Newby Hall Sculpure Garden
2004 Renishaw Sculpture Garden
2003 Working on Commission for most of the year and
3 months in Washington DC working on lithography series
2002 Renishaw Sculpture Garden
2001 Newby Hall Sculpture Park, Yorkshire
2001 Manchester Academy at Bury Art Gallery
2001 Olympia Arts Fair, London
2000 The Simmons Gallery, London
2000 Air Gallery, London
1999 English Snowcarving Team (International Competition)–Breckonridge, Colorada
1999 Nene College, Royal Society of British Sculptors exhibition
1999 Manchester Academy at Bury Art Gallery
1999 Portico Library, Manchester
1998 The Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden
1998 The London Business School
1998 Olympia, London
1998 Pangolin Gallery, Stroud
1998 Manchester Academy at Bury Art Gallery
1997 Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden
1997 Quenington Sculpture Show, Cirencester
1997 Pangolin Gallery
1996 The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
1996 The Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden
1995 The Gallery – Manchester
1995 Royal Society of British Sculptors – Northern Artists – GMEX Centre Manchester
1994 Chichester Festival, Chichester
1994 Pangolin Gallery
1994 20th Century Fine Arts Fair, Royal College of Art, London
1993 Chelsea Harbour Sculpture 93- International Sculpture Exhibition, London
1993 Royal Society of British Sculptors – Chelsea Harbour, London
1993 “Barn Gallery comes to Manchester”
1993 Howarth Art Gallery, Lancashire
1992 Art in Action – demonstrator with RBS
1992 Woodlands Art Gallery, Blackheath, London
1991 Open Studio and Exhibition, Manchester
1990 The Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts, McLennan Galleries, Glasgow
1990 The Fine Art Society, Bond Street, London
1989 The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London
1989 The Blackheath Gallery, Blackheath, London
1989 The Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool
1988 The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London
1988 The Portico Library & Gallery, Manchester
1988 The Ben Uri Gallery, London
1987 The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London
1987 The R.& A. Gallery, Cheshire
1987 Stockport Art Gallery
1986 The Casson Gallery, London
1986 The 3rd International Contemporary Art Fair Olympia London
1986 The Ginnel Gallery, Manchester
1986 Salford Art Gallery
1985 Cavendish Gallery
1985 The Ginnel Gallery, Manchester
1985 Stockport Art Gallery (six Stockport artists)
1985 The Ginnel Gallery (Three gallery artists)
1984 Salford Art Gallery
1984 Saddleworth Art Gallery
1982 and 83 Pitcairn Galleries Knutsford Cheshire
1981 Buxton Art Gallery
1981 Bury Art Gallery
1979 Bolton Art Festival
1979 Howarth Art Gallery, Lancashire
1979 Stockport Art Gallery
1978 Stockport Art Gallery
1977-2004 Manchester Academy of Fine Art Annual Exhibition

LARGEST COMMISSION TO DATE
2003/4 Three-tonne limestone sculpture to commemorate ‘Georgie’, daughter of Nicola and Tim Horlick

Press and Media:

• BBC Woman’s Hour – Interview with Nicola Horlick regarding commission
Voted one of top 5 interviews of the year for 2004

• “….impossible to ignore the works of Dawn Rowland….” (The Sunday Times)

• “….a very accomplished stone carving by Dawn Rowland called ‘The Warrior Dreams’….”.
(The Times review of Royal Academy Summer Exhibition)

• “The figures of head, face and hands were engraved in the marble. While it seems that she is inspired by the sculpture culture in Africa, the charming point of her sculpture is the powerful expression of the poetical sentiment which should be considered as the root of existence of human being. The affection between parents and child, the horrors of war, love and sadness could be felt as dream and poetry hiding behind these works…” (Kyoto Sinbun Newspaper of Kyoto – translation from the Japanese article)

• “…the small alabaster works ‘Mother and Child’ are exceptional in more senses than one. And the ‘Adam and Eves’ are angular in contrast to the smooth, beautifully rounded majority of Dawn Rowland’s meticulously polished works…has a vivid imagination and like the excellent artist she is, she leaves us to use ours (The Manchester Evening News)

• “…to the polished gems of Dawn Rowland, one of the North-West’s finest and most imaginative sculptors.” (Manchester Evening News)

• “Her images, carved with strength, rhythm and harmony, have a kind of grandeur, focusing on themes such as love, togetherness and birth. Highly charged with emotion, they reflect her profound response to the human condition.” (The Jewish Chronicle)

• “…has so brilliantly combined artistic imagination with consummate craftsmanship, qualities also evident in the three carvings (alabaster, soapstone and ancaster stone) by the Bramhall artist Dawn Rowland, one of the north-west leading sculptors.” (Manchester Evening News)

• BBC Womans Hour (1988) regarding RA Summer Exhibition

• “What struck me immediately was her exquisite and brilliant portrayal of hands, their predominance in her pieces and their beautifully carved fingers. This was particularly appropriate because of Georgie’s hands and long white fingers…………I‘m really pleased it was Dawn whom we asked to create the sculpture as it’s exactly what we envisaged and wanted……” (Express ‘Woman’ Nicola Horlick talking to Fay Wertheimer about the sculpture she commissioned in memory of her daughter Georgie who died of leukaemia aged 12)

Publications:

• A Colourful Canvas – Twelve Women Artists in the North West written by Judy Rose. Hardback book published by Wendy J Levy Contemporary Art Ltd. 2006

• Sculpting the Human Figure by John W. Mills. Published by Crowood Press Ltd. 2006

• Mud Fire Metal – Bronze Sculpture Casting and Patination by Steve Hurst. Published by Schiffer Books 2004

ENQUIRY
David Porter
Edgar Rowley Smart