Richard Minns at Hay Hill Gallery

About

This November, Hay Hill Gallery proudly presents a collection of sculpture by the renowned artist Richard Minns. His dynamic creations feature figures from biblical narrative and Greek myth, stories of shining heroes and crippling power struggles. The opposition between man and the gods, men and women, mortality and immortality are recurring themes described by these hauntingly beautiful works. Anchored to the material world, many of Minns' heroes are flawed and ultimately bound by gravity. Mainly nude or semi-clad, these muscular subjects remind the viewer simultaneously of vulnerability and power. The Atlas Shrugged series takes on Ayn Rand's central message of individualism and objective thought; that the most depraved human being is ‘the man without purpose', that identity comes only from how successful we are with what we've been given. The sculptures embody a sense of earthy determination, bodies the colour of blood and sweat beneath the looming silvery globes. In another scenario Atlas battles against his fate, pinned between earth and sky, limbs raging through the very skin of the sea. Minns himself has proved to be the irrepressible adventurer, a master of reinvention, casting off his various identities and careers as often as a snake sheds its skin. Legendary as a boxing champion and a rodeo competitor, infamous as the billionaire tycoon and wanted man, he is as tall in reality as the tales appear. With a retirement that lasted all of one week, Minns went on to wrestle two great white sharks, take a wild spin on the back of a 16ft wide giant ray, and perhaps the most challenging feat of all; make it as a respected artist in a cynical world. Breathing fire into every one of his creations, Minns imbues them with energy from his own inexhaustible source.