Guy Boyd (sculptor)

Guy Martin à Beckett Boyd (12 June 1923 – 26 April 1988) was an Australian sculptor.

Born in Murrumbeena, Victoria, he was a member of the famous Boyd artistic dynasty, and brother of painters Arthur Boyd and David Boyd. Guy Boyd was a potter and figurative sculptor noted for his ability to capture the fluidity and sensuality of the female form. He was also active in environmental and other causes, including the damming of Tasmania's Franklin River and the Lindy Chamberlain affair.

Initially he was a potter, establishing both Martin Boyd Pottery and later Guy Boyd Pottery. These studios produced a wide range of modernist objects from house-wares to decorative pieces which enjoyed strong commercial success. Iconic Australian imagery, particularly flora and indigenous motifs, feature heavily. This period of work is also stepped in the 'atomic age' aesthetics of the 1950s and early 1960s with a familiar color palate and shapes that hold strong echos of Eames and others.

Boyd turned away from this commercial work and to a full-time career in sculpture in 1965. His commissions include sculptures in both Melbourne and Sydney's international airports, Caulfield town hall, the Commonwealth Bank and has pieces in the National Gallery, Melbourne. He has had exhibitions of his work in Australia, England, Canada and the US.

He also won the Churchill Fellowship to study art overseas in 1968 and was appointed the Art Advisor to Deakin University in 1988.

'Guy Boyd' written by Anne Von Bertouch and Patrick Hutchins was published by Lansdowne Press in 1976.

He was Australian Co-ordinator of 'Save Lindy Chamberlain' and wrote the book 'Justice in Jeopardy' in her defence.

He was President of the Brighton Foreshore Protection Committee, which he founded with a plaque commemorating his achievements in preserving the Brighton Foreshore erected on the beach at Brighton, Victoria, Melbourne.

He was President of the Port Phillip Protection Society and was arrested campaigning against the damming of the Franklin River in Tasmania.

He migrated to Canada with his wife and four younger children, settling in Toronto in 1975, but returned to live in Australia five years later.

Died 26 April, 1988

See also

* Art of Australia

External links

* [http://www.evabreuerartdealer.com.au/boydg.html Works by Guy Boyd]

References

* Brenda Niall, [http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn74185 "The Boyds: a family biography" (Melbourne: Miegunyah Press, Melbourne University Press, 2002).] (ISBN 0-522-84871-0)