Sandle stands in duality with the idea that an artist can be a filter in the depiction of suffering - Mediterranean Cruise + Moral Conflict is precisely about that, hence ‘moral conflict’; it is a harrowing image of drowning refugees and yes, it is a beautiful drawing. A clean slate is necessary for moral order to be restored says he, and so in “An Allegory about Time” the Grim reaper with torches curious to Sandle’s mannerism sweeps us all into abyss: Sandle’s revolt against mediocrity isn’t young nor waning.
Following his appointment as professor of sculpture at Pforzheim, Germany in 1973, and at Karlsruhe in 1980, Sandle’s work became more monumental. His desire to work on a grand scale led him to towering single figures and to large public sculptures. He reacted against what he felt to be a lack of craftsmanship and the reductive formalism of contemporary sculpture, producing instead a heroic and public art increasingly inspired by 19th century models. Sandle's ambitions, encompassing the tradition both of Renaissance equestrian sculpture and of forms in movement borrowed from Futurism, emerged with particular clarity in the massive bronze St George and the Dragon (h. 8.5 m, 1987–8; London, Dorset Rise), his first major public monument in England. The work criticises what Sandle describes as “the heroic decadence” of capitalism, in particular it’s appetite for global conflict. He has attacked the media for packaging and sanitising the destructiveness of war. In 1994 Sandle was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. He has exhibited in numerous group shows in the UK and internationally including the 5th Paris Biennale, 4th and 6th Documenta and Sao Paulo Biennale.
MICHAEL SANDLE
b. 1936 in Weymouth, Dorset
1993 Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
1990 Elected Royal Academician
1989 Major award (Korn Ferry) at Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 1987 Major Prize, 7th International
Small Sculpture Exhibition, Budapest,Hungary
1982 Associate member of the Royal Academy
1971 Visiting Associate Professor, Fine Art Department, University of Victoria, British Columbia
1970 Moved to Canada as Visiting Associate Professor, Fine Art Department, University of Calgary,
Alberta.
1960 Worked as lithographer in Paris in the printmaking Atelier Patris 1959 Awarded Abbey Minor
travelling scholarship and French State scholarship. Toured Northern Europe, then spent time in Italy.
1956-9 Studied painting and printmaking at Slade School of Fine Art. Diploma in Fine Art.
1954-6 National Service in Royal Artillery Chester 1942 Moved with family to Douglas, Isle of Man
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2016 Now and Then, Dadiani Fine Art
2016 Time, Transition, and Dissent, Flowers East
2012 “Michael Sandle, A Celebration”, Landsatsamt Enzkreis, Pforzheim, Germany
2011 Michael Sandle,”Works on Paper”, Flowers, Cork Street
2009 "Twentieth Century Memorial", Dean Clough, Halifax
2008 "Twentieth Century Memorial", Duveen Gallery, Tate Britain
2007 Centenary Art Gallery, Leeds University Retrospective, Inner Bailey
Ludlow Castle, Frost & Reed, London
2005 Drawing Retrospective, DLI Gallery, Durham
1998 Sculpture & Drawing, Manx Museum, Isle of Man
1996 De Montfort University, Lincoln
1995 Drawings & Sculpture, Jason & Rhodes, London, Memorials for the
Twentieth Century, Tate Liverpool 1991 Kryzstofery Galerie, Krakow, Poland
1990 British Council Exhibition, Ernst Museum and the Műcsarnok, Budapest, Hungary,
British Council Exhibition, OPS Park Sienkiewicza, Lodz, Poland
1989 Retrospective, Wurttembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany.
"Malta Siege Memorial", Diploma Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, London.
"Malta Siege Memorial", Imperial War Museum, London 1988 Retrospective, The Whitechapel Gallery,
London
1984 Wilhelm, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany 1983 Mannheimer Kunstverein, Mannheim,
Germany
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2015 The Print Show, Flowers Central
2014 Reflections of War, Flowers East
2014 Selected Works by Gallery Artists, Flowers East 2014 Small is Beautiful XXXI, Flowers East
2012 100 Prints, Flowers East
2012 British Sculpture, Flowers Central
PUBLIC COMMISIONS
2002 Memorial to Lifeboatmen, Marine Gardens, Douglas, Isle of Man 2001 International Maritime
Organization Seafarers’ Memorial, Albert
Embankment, London
1997 "The Viking", Port Erin Arts Centre, Isle of Man
1992 "St Margaret", The Pearl Assurance Head Offices, Peterborough 1988-92 Malta Siege Memorial, Grand
Harbour, Valletta
1988 "St. George & the Dragon", Blackfriars, London
1987 "Woman for Heidelberg", Kopf Klinik, Heidelberg, Germany
1986 "Belgrano Medal - a Medal of Dishonour", British Art Medallic Society 1985 "Memorial to the Victims
of a Helicopter Disaster", Mannheim,Germany 1981 "Sculpture for a Trades School", Muhlacker, Germany
AWARDS
2007 Hugh Casson Drawing Prize, Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2004-6 Kenneth Armitage
Fellowship
1995 Henry Hering Memorial Medal (for Malta Siege Memorial) National
Sculpture Society of America
1989 Korn/Ferry Award, Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition
1987 Prize-winner in 7th International Small Sculpture Exhibition, Budapest, Hungary
1986 Nobutaka Shikanai prize, 1st Rodin Grand Prize Exhibition, Utsukushigahara Open Air Museum, Japan
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol
Arts Council of Great Britain
Atkinson Gallery, Southport
Australian National Gallery, Canberra
British Council, Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre, London British Museum
Bundesmimisterium des Innern, Bonn, Germany
Cass Sculpture Foundation, Goodwood
Contemporary Art Society
Government Art Collection
Dallas Museum of Art, USA
Hakone Open Air Museum, Japan
Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston
Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
Imperial War Museum, London
Leeds City Art Gallery
Leicestershire Collection for Schools
Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
Manx Heritage Museum, Douglas, Isle of Man
Mercer Gallery, Harrogate
Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA
Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland
Muzeum Narodowe, Gdansk, Poland
Neueberger Museum, State University of New York, Purchase, USA Oldham Art Gallery
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
Seattle Art Museum, USA
Sydney Bestoff Sculpture Gardens, New Orleans, USA
Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany
Städtische Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany
Staatsgallerie Stuttgart, Germany
Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim, Germany
Tate Britain, London
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
