PHILLIP KING RWA
Date of Birth: 1934
Place: Tunisia
Profession: Sculptor
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Phillip King came to England in 1945 and studied modern languages at Cambridge University from 1954 to 1957. He began to make sculpture during his time at University and from 1957 to 1958 studied sculpture at St Martins School of Art, where Anthony Caro was teaching. King taught at St Martins for a year before working as an assistant to Henry Moore, where he gained experience of working on a larger scale.
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He became a Trustee of the Tate Gallery from 1967 to 1969 and continued to teach at St Martins until 1980. From 1979 to 1980 he was also visiting Professor of Sculpture at Hochschule der Kunste, Berlin. From 1980 to 1990 he was Professor of Sculpture at the Royal College of Art and was made Professor Emeritus at the College in 1990. The same year he was made Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools, a post that he held until his election as President of the Royal Academy in 1999. Phillip King has also been a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery since 1999.
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In 1964 he had his first of many one-man exhibitions at the Royal Gallery. He also had several one-man shows in America in the 1960's. He uses a variety of materials in his work including fibreglass, metal, wood and slate.
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He has had several retrospective exhibitions, including one at the Whitechapel Art Gallery and the Hayward Gallery. The Yorkshire Sculpture Park gave him a retrospective in 1997 and the same year he also had a retrospective at the Forte de Belvedere in Florence. Phillip King was only the second English sculptor to be given this honour, the first being Henry Moore.
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