Clement Meadmore Australian, 1929-2005

Clement Meadmore is one of the most highly respected artists  of his generation, for both the quality of his work and the integrity of his commitment to public sculpture. This sculptor has been uniquely successful as a creator of public art that serves as a positive, unifying force in the environment.

Although initially linked with the Minimalists, Clement Meadmore transcended geometry with work of uncommon force and elegance, powerful in large scale and small. It relies for its effect on the opposition between line and mass, also deriving power and eloquence from its fusion of formal invention with intense feeling, a frankly spiritual dimension. Yet ultimately the appeal of Clement Meadmore’s work lies in its success as sheer form.

The artist has managed to overcome geometry’s qualities of stasis, containment, rigor, and sobriety. His sculptures deny their physical reality, suggesting weightlessness. Because of this extroverted and animated character, his public commissions provide oases of humanity in the urban environment. He himself has stated: “A building is part of the environment, but a sculpture is a presence inhabiting the environment.”

Clement Meadmore’s works range in size from those that fit in the palm of a hand to others that stretch more than forty-six feet, not to mention a proposal for a six-hundred-foot skyscraper sculpture. This range in scale is belied by the seeming monumentality and robust physicality of even the smallest maquette (via).