Matchhead
30,3 x 30,7 x 8,7 in (77 x 78 x 22 cm)

David Mach was born in Methil in Scotland, in 1956. He studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee between 1974 and 1979 and at The Royal College of Art, London between 1979 and 1982. In 1998 Mach was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts and subsequently appointed as the Professor of Sculpture. In 2006, he was elected to the board of the National Portrait Gallery. Mach’s works do not come in one single guise. His creative range is enormous, working in collage, sculpture and large-scale installation. His finished works are often a stunning fusion of all three techniques. Even public art features in his tableau making him versatile yet singular and verifiably Mach’s own trademark approach to art. Mach is daring, incisive and clearly very methodical in his work. Mach’s artistic style is based on flowing assemblages of mass-produced found art objects. His sculptures have elaborate and unique textured surfaces constructed solely from matchsticks, hangers or other found objects. They are at once fearsome and beautiful, totally powerful in the rooms they occupy and yet somehow fragile. They move in an alternative realm which tours yet occupy our space. His creative output is truly outstanding and his artworks are always constructed from the unexpected and found object but always beautiful and unique. Working with both installation art and sculpture and photo-collage, this inventor is remarkable. His constructions of large-scale sculptures made entirely of silver coat hangers, is just another method through which Mach has gained his esteemed global reputation and remarkable creative guise. There is a haunting presence in Mach’s work, one that has won him global recognition throughout his career. Some of his permanent public works are found in the UK, which included Out of Order in Kingston upon Thames, the Brick Train located outside Darlington and the Big Heids situated between Glasgow and Edinburgh. There are twelve listed exhibitions or installations in ten different cities, ranging from San Francisco to Madrid and Milton Keynes to Melbourne within the year of 1989. In October 2006, one of the highlights of the monumental sculptures by Mach was shown in the Jardins des Tuileries in Paris, during the FIAC. Mach’s influence continues to pulse through the young creatives and gallery professionals to this day.