A major educational project, this exhibition and a series of workshops, traces the development of Britain’s foremost sculptor and examines his working techniques. Sir Anthony Caro OM earned a reputation as a great innovator in the field of sculpture, coming to prominence in the nineteen sixties with his welded metal sculptures. He concurrently helped Frank Martin, Head of Sculpture at St Martin’s School of Art, London to create an innovative department, where he taught artists that established a strong presence in the public eye. Some followed his thinking and many diverged into their own fields. Phillip King, now President of the Royal Academy of Arts, and Richard Long were among their number.

Having sustained his distinguished career for well over fifty years, Anthony Caro is better known overseas than in regional Britain. In bringing his work to the provinces, the core team who brought Rodin’s The Kiss back to Lewes, hope to redress that balance. Caro was first feted in America, where he embraced American Abstract Expressionism and the sculpture of David Smith. In his early work he took sculpture off the pedestal and rooted it firmly on the ground. Welding steel girders, recycled steel, painting or allowing it to rust, Caro gradually built a new vocabulary for sculpture. He has worked in many mediums – steel, bronze, paper, clay, silver, wood – and in his mature years has tackled monumental and classical subject-matter on an impressive scale. His Trojan War series and the 25 pieces of the Last Judgement are fine examples.

Caro has recently worked in collaboration with others – architects and engineers – in explorations of scale, makingrations of scale, making sculptural forms akin to architecture, where the viewer can experience sculpture from inside as well as viewing the exterior. Endlessly inventive, he continues to surprise and delight. A Sculptor’s Development: Anthony Caro is organised by Sculpture Exhibitions Limited, a company established by Ann Elliott and Paul Myles in 2000. Elliott and Myles aim to enhance the cultural and educational environment through the creation and organisation of projects, including exhibitions that promote modern and contemporary sculpture of the highest quality.