Richard Wentworth

Artist biography:

Born Samoa in 1947

Studied at Hornsey College of Art in North London from 1965 and then at the Royal College of Art (1968-70).

As a student Wentworth worked for Henry Moore in 1967 and at the gallery owned by Robert Fraser. Since the 1970s he has played a leading role in British sculpture, isolating both the formal and sculptural qualities of everyday objects. Wentworth looks closely at the present by espousing the past. Looking back, he says, enables us to understand why and how we move forward. By excavating history and looking closely at the material 'now', Wentworth often collates and assembles a vivacious archaeology of the world we live in.

Wentworth was awarded an MA in 1970 from the Royal College of Art and went on to become one of the most influential teachers in British art over the past two decades at Goldsmith's College, University of London, where he taught from 1971 to 1987. He was appointed by the prestigious German Academic Exchange Programme (DAAD) to work in Berlin from 1993 to 1994, and in 2002 was made Master of the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford University.

He was one of the selected artists in the London section of the 2002 São Paulo Biennial and in 1999 curated 'Thinking Aloud', one of the most creative contemporary exhibition projects staged in the past five years and which was seen in Cambridge, London and Manchester.