A Review of Graham Ibbeson The People’s Sculptor
Bronze, Clay and Life

John Threlkeld
Published by Pen & Sword Books, Hardback, 180 pages, ISBN: 9781848845718

Graham Ibbeson – not Britart – but true Barnsley Grit-Art

Whatever the merits of the works that are said to comprise Britart the term itself is absolutely useless as a description. What, after all, is British about a shark in formaldehyde? Or an unmade bed? Or a video of four drunken men staggering around a studio?

Graham Ibbeson is NOT Britart, but his art is British through and through. You may not know the name of this Barnsley-born sculptor, but you’ll probably have seen some of his work. He’s the one responsible for the mannequins in the Jorvik Viking Centre, the statue of Eric Morecambe in Morecambe, the bronze of a smartly-dressed Cary Grant in Bristol, and the majestic and overpowering statue of a miner in Hucknall in Nottinghamshire.

He’s also a man with a social conscience and knows the real price of coal when measured in terms of miners’ lives. He was born and raised in a mining village near Barnsley, and there are generations of mining in his family: indeed, his father worked in the pits, and Graham worked in the colliery workshop. Some of his most powerful pieces depict the harsh conditions of mining.

But there’s more than one side to Graham’s sculpting. As well as doing serious, realistic pieces, he also has a sense of humour, one that is as British as saucy postcards, Just William stories, Beano comics and the late Les Dawson. In fact, he’s so struck on humour that as well as Eric Morecambe, he’s produced works featuring Laurel and Hardy, WC Fields, and Les Dawson. He’s also developed a series of running jokes featuring “Eric and George” a pair of lovable mischievous schoolboys who are always getting into scrapes. The characters are based on Graham himself, and his cousin Paul – they were like brothers growing up together.

John Threlkeld’s book on Graham Ibbeson’s life and works is a lively read, threaded with anecdotes about the man and his creations, and the book is generously illustrated throughout – providing a real insight into the sculptor.

You don’t have to have a degree in art appreciation to like Graham’s work, but if you have a good sense of humour, an eye for people’s characteristics and foibles, and an empathetic mind-set, you’ll get a lot from this book.

Examples of Graham’s work can be seen in numerous towns and cities across the UK and beyond. Yorkshire, not surprisingly, is particularly well-served and his sculptures are on public display in Barnsley (the cricket umpire Dickie Bird, and the Miners’ Memorial); Conisborough, Doncaster (Jim MacFarlane Memorial Sculpture); Leeds (Millennium sculpture of pilot Arthur Aaron); Middlesbrough (Scales of Justice); Northallerton (a group of children with the theme of “seen and not heard”); Otley (the cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale); Redcar (the Redcar Panels); Skipton (fast bowler Fred Trueman); and South Kirby (The Miner).

Graham’s mannequins are still on display in the Jorvik Viking Centre and his works have featured in solo or group exhibitions in the following venues: Barnsley – Hive Gallery, Elsecar (2011) and Cooper Art Gallery; Bradford – Treadwell’s Art Mill (1991); Doncaster  Museum & Art Gallery (1988) and Mansion House; Leeds – 3 Albion Place, (2009) and Leeds City Art Gallery; Middlesbrough Art Gallery (1984); Rotherham Art Gallery (1996); and Wakefield – Elizabethan Art Gallery (1994) and Yorkshire Sculpture Park (1984, 1986, 1990).

You can buy Graham Ibbeson The People’s Sculptor direct from the publisher here, and you can read about when Dickie Bird met Prince Charles at the foot of his statue earlier this year here.