Artists - Part 16

Ian Rank-Broadley

Ian Rank-Broadley, born 1952, is a British sculptor best known for his image of Queen Elizabeth II that appears on all British coins since 1998, and his memorial statue of Princess Diana that was unveiled this year.  But his favorite subject seems to be male nudes.  Here he is in his studio with a male model.

This is Torso of Aron.  Aron was and continues to be one of Ian's favorite models.

This is St. George Slaying the Dragon, a quintessentially British subject.  Portraying St. George naked is, surprisingly, somewhat traditional, as we'll see in a future Gods, Myths and Heroes post.

The statue above is called Towards Another.  Talking about his predilection for male nudes, Rank-Broadley says, "I realised that the female nude had, to a large extent, been robbed of its power by the commercial world of advertising, whereas the the male nude still retained a power that could excite, grab attention and shock. The reaction of the spectator to the male figure was stronger, whether out of competition, fear or embarrassment. It proved to be a potent image. For me, the sculptor, this fact reinforced the work with a greater resonance and meaning."

Although many of his sculptures echo classical Greek and Roman works, those works always had a tiny nub for a penis (anything larger was considered vulgar).  Rank-Broadley's nudes are more realistic in the penis department.  In his statue of wrestlers in the Malmesbury Abbey gardens, above, one wrestler seems to be getting excited.  Perhaps that  illustrates Rank-Broadley's observation that "the male nude still retained a power that could excite, grab attention and shock."

This statue is called Helios, God of the Sun.  It's very different from classical statues of gods, because instead of portraying a powerful, fearsome deity, it portrays a playful youth.

This statue is called Lord Rochester, His Whore and a Monkey.  It was commissioned by British publisher Felix Dennis for his sculpture collection called Garden of Heroes and Villains.  Lord Rochester was a 17th century English poet at the court of King Charles II in the Restoration era, in which people reacted against the previous Puritan era with openly bawdy behavior.

Both Lord Rochester and Felix Dennis, who commissioned the sculpture, drank and whored while writing poetry, which made this subject dear to Dennis' heart.

We end with Heroic Torso.  Note the lizard perched on the statue's penis.  Rank-Broadley wrote, "The lizard attempts to conceal the maleness of the figure, and yet becomes a focus of attention."  This statue could give a whole new meaning to the term "drain the lizard."