Robert Marsden is best known for his extraordinary and uncompromising minimalist metal sculpture. His work has been characterised by the critic Mel Gooding as ‘belonging to that specifically modernist type of the sculptural architectonic’. He works on a variety of scales from tabletop sculptures to monumental outdoor pieces.
His most recent series of pared down forms draw attention to the subtle permutations of their patinated brass components and the particular spatial relationships that come into play at the juxtaposition of one shape with another.
Marsden studied at the Royal College of Art and is a featured artist at Marsden Woo, London. View Marsden Woo artist profile.
Awards
1969
Royal Society of Arts Bursary
1972
Gift of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths
1972
Crafts Advisory Committee Setting-up Grant
1977
Yorkshire Arts Association Individual Artist's Award
1995
London Arts Board Visual Arts Award
Solo exhibitions
1983
Robert Marsden, Crafts Council Sideshow, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
1990
Robert Marsden, The Sculpture Court, Royal Institute of British Architects, London
1992
Robert Marsden - Metalwork, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1992
Robert Marsden - Sculpture, Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset
1997
Focus on Robert Marsden, Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear
1999
Bryan Illsley and Robert Marsden, Barrett Marsden Gallery, London
2001
Robert Marsden, Barrett Marsden Gallery, London
2004
Bryan Illsley and Robert Marsden, Barrett Marsden Gallery, London
2006
Robert Marsden – New Work, Barrett Marsden Gallery, London
2009
Stark Reality, Marsden Woo Gallery, London
2011
Robert Marsden and Philip Sayer, Marsden Woo Gallery, London
2014
Robert Marsden and Jock McFadyen, Marsden Woo Gallery, London
2016
Robert Marsden and Maria van Kesteren, Marsden Woo Gallery, London
2019
Conclusions & Cancellations, Robert Marsden and Bryan Illsley, Marsden Woo Gallery, London
Selected group exhibitions
1973
The Craftsmans’ Art, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
1974
Every Man a Patron, Crafts Advisory Committee Gallery, London
1975
Liberty’s 1875-1975', Victoria & Albert Museum, London
1977
Crafts In Question - New Directions of the Seventies, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
1977
Masterpiece, British Crafts Centre, London
1977
Explosion, Goldsmith’s Hall, London
1979
Homespun to Highspeed - A Century of British Design 1880 -1980', Mappin Art Gallery, City Art Galleries, Sheffield
1980
Made in Yorkshire, Leeds City Art Galleries, Leeds
1983
British Crafts, Westminster Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1983
Containers, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1985
A Collection in the Making, The Crafts Council Gallery, London
1986-87
8th European Silver Triennial 1986, Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau, Hanau, West Germany; Goldsmiths’ Hall, London; City Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow
1987
Lifestyle Europe, Sunshine City, Tokyo, Japan
1988
Contemporary English Craft, Miharudo Gallery, Mejiro, Tokyo, Japan
1988
Sotheby’s Decorative Arts Award Exhibition, Sothebys, London
1988
Alison Britton, Maria van Kesteren, Robert Marsden, Galerie Kapelhuis, Amersfoort, The Netherlands
1988
Expositie, Jäger Interieur, Amsterdam, The Netherland
1990
Bryan Illsley, Misa Jelnikar, Robert Marsden, Galerija ARS, Ljubljana, Slovenia
1991
Can’t Stop Me Now, The Crafts Council Gallery, London
1993
Visions of Craft, 1972-1993', The Crafts Council Gallery, London
1993-94
On the Edge, Art Meets Craft, a touring exhibition from Aberystwyth Arts Centre and Kettles Yard, Cambridge to The Crafts Council, London; Wrexham Library Arts Centre, Clwyd, North Wales; Aberystwyth Arts Centre, University College of Wales; Cleveland Crafts Centre, Middlesbrough
1993
20th Century Silver, The Crafts Council Gallery, London
1993-94
Een Schitterend Feest, Contemporary European Silverwork, ('Antwerpen 93'), The Provinciaal Veiligheidsintituut, Antwerp, Belgium; The Provinciaal Museum, Sterckshof, Belgium; 'Interieur 94', Kortrijk, Belgium; The Mead Art Gallery, University of Warwick, Coventry
1995
Craftworks, The Barbican Centre, London, organised by The London Arts Board
1997
Contemporary Metalwork from the Crafts Council Collection, The Barbican Centre, London
1999
The Pleasures of Peace - Mid century Craft and Art in Britain, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich and tour
1999-2000
Studio Metalwork, Robert Marsden and Steven Follen, Rochester Art Gallery, Kent
2001
Silver Lives – Contemporary Contrasts at the Gilbert Collection’, The Silver Gallery, Gilbert Collection, Somerset House, London
2005
Transformations: The Language of Craft’, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
2005-06
Making it Yours: Metal, the Crafts Council Gallery, London
2007
Hidden Treasures, The Hub, Sleaford, Lincolnshire
Selected writing
Press Release for Conclusions & Cancellations, Robert Marsden & Bryan Illsley, 2019
Interiors and exteriors; scale, material, form and space by Alison Britton, 2016
Press Release for the exhibition with Maria van Kesteren, 2016
Press Release for the exhibition with Jock Mcfayden, 2014
Contradictions exhibition essay, 2011
Stark Reality by Tanya Harrod, 2009
Projective Propositions: Robert Marsden's New Sculptures by Mel Gooding, 2006
Exhibition essay by Nicholas Rena, 2001
Exhibition essay by Constance Blackwell, 1999
Collections
Crafts Council Collection
Shipley Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum & City Art Gallery
Sheffield Assay Office
National Gallery of Australia
Robert Marsden is best known for his extraordinary and uncompromising minimalist metal sculpture. His work has been characterised by the critic Mel Gooding as ‘belonging to that specifically modernist type of the sculptural architectonic’. He works on a variety of scales from tabletop sculptures to monumental outdoor pieces.
His most recent series of pared down forms draw attention to the subtle permutations of their patinated brass components and the particular spatial relationships that come into play at the juxtaposition of one shape with another.
Marsden studied at the Royal College of Art and is a featured artist at Marsden Woo, London. View Marsden Woo artist profile.
Awards
1969
Royal Society of Arts Bursary
1972
Gift of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths
1972
Crafts Advisory Committee Setting-up Grant
1977
Yorkshire Arts Association Individual Artist's Award
1995
London Arts Board Visual Arts Award
Solo exhibitions
1983
Robert Marsden, Crafts Council Sideshow, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
1990
Robert Marsden, The Sculpture Court, Royal Institute of British Architects, London
1992
Robert Marsden - Metalwork, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1992
Robert Marsden - Sculpture, Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset
1997
Focus on Robert Marsden, Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear
1999
Bryan Illsley and Robert Marsden, Barrett Marsden Gallery, London
2004
Bryan Illsley and Robert Marsden, Barrett Marsden Gallery, London
2006
Robert Marsden – New Work, Barrett Marsden Gallery, London
2009
Stark Reality, Marsden Woo Gallery, London
2011
Robert Marsden and Philip Sayer, Marsden Woo Gallery, London
2014
Robert Marsden and Jock McFadyen, Marsden Woo Gallery, London
2016
Robert Marsden and Maria van Kesteren, Marsden Woo Gallery, London
2019
Conclusions & Cancellations, Robert Marsden and Bryan Illsley, Marsden Woo Gallery, London
Selected group exhibitions
1973
The Craftsmans’ Art, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
1974
Every Man a Patron, Crafts Advisory Committee Gallery, London
1975
Liberty’s 1875-1975', Victoria & Albert Museum, London
1977
Crafts In Question - New Directions of the Seventies, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
1977
Masterpiece, British Crafts Centre, London
1977
Explosion, Goldsmith’s Hall, London
1979
Homespun to Highspeed - A Century of British Design 1880 -1980', Mappin Art Gallery, City Art Galleries, Sheffield
1980
Made in Yorkshire, Leeds City Art Galleries, Leeds
1983
British Crafts, Westminster Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1983
Containers, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1985
A Collection in the Making, The Crafts Council Gallery, London
1986-87
8th European Silver Triennial 1986, Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau, Hanau, West Germany; Goldsmiths’ Hall, London; City Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow
1987
Lifestyle Europe, Sunshine City, Tokyo, Japan
1988
Contemporary English Craft, Miharudo Gallery, Mejiro, Tokyo, Japan
1988
Sotheby’s Decorative Arts Award Exhibition, Sothebys, London
1988
Alison Britton, Maria van Kesteren, Robert Marsden, Galerie Kapelhuis, Amersfoort, The Netherlands
1988
Expositie, Jäger Interieur, Amsterdam, The Netherland
1990
Bryan Illsley, Misa Jelnikar, Robert Marsden, Galerija ARS, Ljubljana, Slovenia
1991
Can’t Stop Me Now, The Crafts Council Gallery, London
1993
Visions of Craft, 1972-1993', The Crafts Council Gallery, London
1993-94
On the Edge, Art Meets Craft, a touring exhibition from Aberystwyth Arts Centre and Kettles Yard, Cambridge to The Crafts Council, London; Wrexham Library Arts Centre, Clwyd, North Wales; Aberystwyth Arts Centre, University College of Wales; Cleveland Crafts Centre, Middlesbrough
1993
20th Century Silver, The Crafts Council Gallery, London
1993-94
Een Schitterend Feest, Contemporary European Silverwork, ('Antwerpen 93'), The Provinciaal Veiligheidsintituut, Antwerp, Belgium; The Provinciaal Museum, Sterckshof, Belgium; 'Interieur 94', Kortrijk, Belgium; The Mead Art Gallery, University of Warwick, Coventry
1995
Craftworks, The Barbican Centre, London, organised by The London Arts Board
1997
Contemporary Metalwork from the Crafts Council Collection, The Barbican Centre, London
1999
The Pleasures of Peace - Mid century Craft and Art in Britain, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich and tour
1999-2000
Studio Metalwork, Robert Marsden and Steven Follen, Rochester Art Gallery, Kent
2001
Silver Lives – Contemporary Contrasts at the Gilbert Collection’, The Silver Gallery, Gilbert Collection, Somerset House, London
2005
Transformations: The Language of Craft’, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
2005-06
Making it Yours: Metal, the Crafts Council Gallery, London
2007
Hidden Treasures, The Hub, Sleaford, Lincolnshire
Selected writing
Press Release for Conclusions & Cancellations, Robert Marsden & Bryan Illsley, 2019
Interiors and exteriors; scale, material, form and space by Alison Britton, 2016
Press Release for the exhibition with Maria van Kesteren, 2016
Press Release for the exhibition with Jock Mcfayden, 2014
Contradictions exhibition essay, 2011
Stark Reality by Tanya Harrod, 2009
Projective Propositions: Robert Marsden's New Sculptures by Mel Gooding, 2006
Exhibition essay by Nicholas Rena, 2001
Exhibition essay by Constance Blackwell, 1999
Collections
Crafts Council Collection
Shipley Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum & City Art Gallery
Sheffield Assay Office
National Gallery of Australia
© Robert Marsden 2020
Photography © Philip Sayer
unless otherwise attributed
© Robert Marsden 2020
Photography © Philip Sayer
unless otherwise attributed