Richard Wilson RA

Born: 24 May 1953
Elected RA: 27 March 2006
Category of Membership: Sculptor

What I actually do is tweak or undo or change the interiors of space (predominantly the interiors of museums and galleries when given permission) and in many instances actually enlist parts of the building as part of the sculpture, and in that way unsettle or break peoples preconceptions of space, what they think space might be.
Richard Wilson RA

Richard Wilson RA, Butterfly
Richard Wilson RA, Butterfly Richard Wilson is known for his interventions in architectural space which draw heavily on the worlds of engineering and construction for their inspiration.

Wilson has exhibited widely nationally and internationally for over thirty years and has made major museum exhibitions and public works in countries as diverse as Japan, USA, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Australia and numerous countries throughout Europe. Wilson has also represented Britain in the Sydney, Sao Paulo, Venice Biennials and Yokohama Triennal, was nominated for the Turner Prize on two occasions and was awarded the prestigious DAAD residency in Berlin 1992-3. He was one of a small number of artists invited to create a major public work for The Millennium Dome and the only British artist invited to participate in Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2000.

Wilson’s seminal installation 20:50, a sea of reflective sump oil, which is permanently installed in the Saatchi Collection, was described as ‘one of the masterpieces of the modern age’ by the art critic Andrew Graham Dixon in the BBC television series The History of British Art.

Wilson was appointed Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools in December 2011, and Visiting Research Professor at the University of East London in 2004. Richard Wilson by Simon Morrissey was published in 2005.

Read an interview with Richard Wilson in RA Magazine Winter 2012

Major projects
2012 De La Warr Pavilion Roof, Cultural Olympiad Project, London
2011 Vertu Global Art Commission, London and Shanghai
2010 Solo show: Matthew Bown Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Shack Stack, London
2009 Works Projects Gallery, Bristol
2007 Cross Keys House, Moorfields, Liverpool
2006 Storey Gallery, Lancaster
Curve Gallery, Barbican Arty Centre, London
2005 Galleria Fumagalli, Bergamo, Italy
Lincoln City & Archaeological Museum
Yokohama Triennale, Japan
2004 Bank Job, Caveau, Palazzo delle Papesse Contemporary Art centre, Sienna Program, London
2003 20:50, Saatchi Gallery, County Hall, London.
Irons in the Fire, Wapping Project, London
Butterfly, Wapping Project, London
2002 Thinking Big: 21st Century British Sculpture, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice Final Corner, World Cup Project, Fukuroi City, Japan
2001 Field Day, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei
Structurally Sound, Ex Teresa Arte Actual, Mexico City
Double Vision, Galerie fur Zeitgenossischekunst, Leipzig
2000 Turbine Hall Swimming Pool, Clare College Mission Church, London
Slice of Reality, North Meadow Sculpture Project, Millennium Dome, London
Set North for Japan (74˚33’ 2”), Echigo Tsumari Project, Niigata Prefecture, Japan

Selected group exhibitions
2006 Royal Academy Summer Show
Butterfly, Platform China, Beijing, China
This will not happen without you, Collective Archive, Locus + touring show
2005 Break Neck Speed, Yokohama Triennal, Yokohama, Japan
2004 Wings of Art, Stadt Aachen – Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst
Marks in Space, Usher Gallery, Lincoln
Galleria Fumagalli, Bergamo, Italy
2003 Independence, South London Gallery, London
20:50, Saatchi Gallery, County Hall, London.
Bad Behaviour, Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
2002 Thinking Big: 21st Century British Sculpture, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice
Groove, Huddersfield Art Gallery, Huddersfield
2001 Field Day, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei
Double Vision, Galerie fur Zeitgenossischekunst, Leipzig
Close Encounters of the Art Kind, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Multiplication, The British Council, touring to venues in Romania, Croatia, Poland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Russia, 2001/3

Permanent works
2005 Rock n’ hole, Lincoln City & Archeological Museum
2002 Final Corner, World Cup Project, Fukuroi City, Japan
2001 Off Kilter, Millennium Square, Leeds
2000 Slice of Reality, North Meadow Sculpture Project, Millennium Dome, London
Set North for Japan (74˚33’ 2”), Echigo Tsumari Project, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
1999 Over Easy, The Arc, Stockton
1994 Entrance to the Utility Tunnel, Tachikawa Public Art Project, Tokyo, Japan

Public collections
Weltkunst Collection @ IMMA, Dublin
Boise Collection
The British Museum
Government Art Collection
Arts Council of England Collection
British Council Collection
Ulster Museum, Belfast
Leeds Museums & Galleries
Centre of Contemporary Art, Warsaw
Museet for Samstidskunst, Oslo

Contact details for further information
Email membershipoffice@royalacademy.org.uk

• Royal Academy of Arts