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Paul de Monchaux

Biography

Paul de Monchaux was born in Montreal in 1934 and studied at the Art Students League, New York (1952-1954) and at the Slade School of Fine Art (1955-1958). After teaching at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology (1958-1960) and Goldsmiths College of Art (1960-1965), he went on to become Head of Sculpture and Head of Fine Art at Camberwell School of Art. In 1986 he retired from teaching to focus attention on his own work.

His sculpture is built around simple geometrical figures that, while inert in themselves, can come to life in the right combination – like the notes of a piano. His choice of material for a particular piece is determined by its ability to carry the form and distribute light across its surfaces. He has a long-standing interest in the sculptural origins of symbolic architecture and recent work has drawn on historian Joseph Rykwert’s writing about the gender of columns. He does not make a distinction between his commissioned and freestanding work, regarding both as part of the same exploration.

De Monchaux’s public commissions include Oozells Square, Birmingham (1998); Silence, Jersey (2007); Breath, Norwich Memorial Gardens (2001) and most recently Girton Column, Girton College, Cambridge (2012).

He lives and works in London.

www.pauldemonchaux.co.uk

Exhibitions

2021 Folds, Tristan Hoare, London *
2021 Fifth Edition, Contemporary Sculpture Fulmer *
2020 Tess Jaray & Paul de Monchaux: Correspondences, Megan Piper, London
2019 Paul de Monchaux: Volutes, Megan Piper, London
2016 Paul de Monchaux: Ten Columns, Megan Piper, London
2015 Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London *
2015 Art15: Tess Jaray and Paul de Monchaux *
2015 Making It: Sculpture in Britain 1977-1986, (a touring exhibition from the Arts Council Collection), Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park *
2014 Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London *
2013 Fixing Memory, The Piper Gallery, London
2012 United Enemies, The Henry Moore Institute, Leeds *
2012 Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London *
2011 Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London *
2009 Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London *
2008 Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London *
2007 Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London *
2005 Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London *
2003 Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London *
2002 Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London *
1992 The Furnished Landscape, Crafts Council Gallery, London *
1990 Gateshead Garden Festival, Tyne and Wear *
1989 Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Gallery, London *
1988 Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Gallery, London *
1988 The London Group, exhibition, London *
1987 Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Gallery, London *
1986 Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Gallery, London *
1986 Stoke-on-Trent National Garden Festival, Staffordshire *
1984 The London Group, exhibition, London *
1983 The Sculpture Show, Hayward Gallery and Serpentine Gallery, London *
1979 Notices, Camden Arts Centre, London *
1974 The London Group, exhibition, London *
1968 The London Group, exhibition, London *
1965 The London Group, exhibition, London *
1962 The London Group, exhibition, London *
1961 The London Group, exhibition, London (elected as member in 1961) *
1960 18 Young Sculptors, Institute of Contemporary Art, London *
1960 John Moores, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool *