Jill Berelowitz

Sculptor

'DNA Tree of Life' Featured in RHS Chelsea

Sculpture, Exhibition, PressJill Berelowitz

Ann-Marie Powell Gardens – Green Grey Britain – RHS Chelsea 2016 Stand MA 435

Ann-Marie Powell has been chosen by the Royal Horticultural Society to design their official ‘Greening Grey Britain’ garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016.

“DNA Tree of Life” sculpture by Jill Berelowitz will be featured in the garden.

The power of a tree is drawn from the earth. This is a literal and yet very spiritual interpretation of nature that is borne out of my upbringing within a medical family in South Africa. I address the scientific reasons behind the strength and purpose of a tree by superimposing the readily recognisable structure of DNA over the natural tree form forcing the sculpture upwards away from the earth. The result is a dramatic assemblage of vertical trunks and interwoven branches that erupt at the top as a prescient symbol of the creative potential of genetics. Genealogy also provides a link to the beginnings of life and in particular to a notional Adam & Eve who existed when homo sapiens first emerged in Africa millennia ago. To this extent the branches in DNA Tree are largely made up of conjoined human figures that seemingly dance through the history of the tree’s growth flowing up from a round base, which is emblematic of the “circle of life”.

Whether you’re planning a new garden, renovating an old one, or simply want to change your garden to suit your lifestyle better, our multi award-winning studio, Ann-Marie Powell Gardens can help.

Jill Berelowitz | Press Release September 2015

PressJill Berelowitz

Jill Berelowitz will present two new sculptural works in the atrium of Berkeley Square House, London, in association with ARTful from September 2015 until January 2016. The two works titled DNA Tree and Moving Forward are fine examples of one of London’s most engaging artists’ oeuvre.

For Berelowitz the power of a tree is drawn from the earth. This is a literal and yet very spiritual interpretation of nature that is borne out of her upbringing within a medical family in South Africa. In DNA Tree she is addressing the scientific reasons behind the strength and purpose of a tree by superimposing the readily recognisable structure of DNA over the natural tree form forcing the sculpture upwards away from the earth. The result is a dramatic assemblage of vertical trunks and interwoven branches that erupt at the top as a prescient symbol of the creative potential of genetics. As well as addressing the future in Berelowitz’s words genealogy also provides “a link to the beginnings of life” and in particular to a notional Adam & Eve who existed when homo sapiens first emerged in Africa millennia ago. To this extent the branches in DNA Tree are largely made up of conjoined human figures that seemingly dance through the history of the tree’s growth flowing up from a round base, which Berelowitz describes as emblematic of the “circle of life”.

Also installed at Berkeley Square House is an arrangement of the sculptural group called Moving Forward. The work combines varying numbers of sleek humanoid forms in an unflinchingly positive work whose title enforces this fact. There are a number of different compositions mostly using only two figures but each work is unique and this variation contains seven casts. The humanoid figures are cast individually with no two alike and their gender is implied, if not explicit, this allows the relationships between each figure to be hinted at and for the viewer to perceive the dynamics of the group in their own way. Berelowitz further relinquishes a lot of the control she has as the creator of the work, handing it over to the viewer by allowing the figures to rotate on their bases and be physically interacted with as well as independently perceived. This being said Berelowitz is still responsible for placing the works during an installation period whereby she assesses the space and determines how they should be positioned. This decision can change the emotiveness of the group from sparse alienation to intimidating clique. It is tempting to see a work like this as wistful or nostalgic, as somehow to see each figure as static and entrenched in dire isolation, yet the proximity and fluidity of the figures, independent and yet enthral to another, provides a life-affirming study of humanity. Ultimately this emotion is highlighted by a feature of this installation whereby one of the figures is set away from the group and finished in white bronze contrasting the darker finish of the others. By distinguishing one of the group from the rest Berelowitz draws attention to the individuality of each of them.

Jill Berelowitz was born in 1955 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She developed her passion for art at a very young age and studied from the age of 12 under renowned Finnish artist Karen Jarozynska and then at Johannesburg School of Art. After graduating she set up her own studio in Durban and worked and taught there until moving to London in 1985.

 In London Berelowitz has established herself as one of the City’s most innovative and prominent sculptures. She has monumental works installed outside Charing Cross Hospital and at Henley-on-Thames, and has been commissioned to make the Investec Challenge rugby trophy plus works for the Goldsmith’s Guild, Unilever and Old Mutual. She has been exhibited at Sotheby’s and Christie’s as well as the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Heathrow Terminal 5 and on Cork Street for Rado and Elizabeth Arden. Other exciting projects also include commissions for Westminster Council’s ‘City of Sculpture’ programme and for the entrance to the London 2012 Olympic Village.

News Flash – Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, New Place Stratford-upon-Avon .

The leading piece, The Mind’s Eye Tree, is being created by Jill Berelowitz

jillberelowitz@mac.com

www.jillberelowitz.com

'DNA Tree of Life' and 'Moving Forward' | Berkeley Square House, Mayfair, London

Press, SculptureJill Berelowitz

Jill Berelowitz is coming to Berkeley Square House, Mayfair London in September 2015. Jill will be displaying “DNA Tree of Life” and “Moving Forward.”

Jill Berelowitz coming to Berkeley Square House W1J

Having met Jill Berelowitz earlier on this year, we are extremely excited to be showcasing her work at one of ARTful’s trophy receptions in the heart of Mayfair, London in September.

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1955, Jill Berelowitz studied sculpture, first under Karen Jarozynska and then at the Johannesburg School of Art. In 1989, Jill moved from her native South Africa to London and is one of the capital’s most innovative sculptors, known for her bronze, steel and optical resin works.

Whether pursuing her long-standing passion for the intimacy and movement of the body, or flexibly working to a brief, Jill’s detailed understanding of anatomy and organic form gifts her work with sensual and contemporary appeal. Working closely at the Morris Singer Foundry, her tactile, cast pieces achieve a remarkable finish in bronze, aluminium, stainless steel and optical coloured resin.

Jill’s broad interpretations of life’s cycles and developments from within a solid core run through her diverse sculptural output, suggesting that the female nude is simultaneously a personal and a universal allegory for nothing less than the geography and continuity of humanity. Jill creates work focused on the human form and regeneration wherein bodies are simultaneously solid and abstracted, dynamic and fixed.

A versatile sculptor, Jill has exhibited recently at Sotheby’s, Heathrow Terminal 5 as well as the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for Accenture, at Christie’s, and on Cork Street for Rado and Elizabeth Arden. Jill has also completed many high profile commissions, including ‘Diving Girl’, which was positioned at the entrance to London 2012 the Olympic Village, life-size Pair Oar rowers at Henley on Thames, a rugby trophy for Investec Challenge and most recently a larger than life piece, “Core Femme” & “Old Mutl” in Cavendish Square for the Westminster City of Sculpture Festival.

Jill is also an enthusiastic educator, running a successful teaching studio in Mill Hill, London and also continues to work on ongoing projects and commissions. Follow the link for more information on Jill’s news.

Jill will be displaying “DNA Tree of Life” and “Moving Forward” in the main reception windows of Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London, W1J from the 3rd September 2015-January 2016. They are not to be missed. For any further information contact info@artful.org.uk

SOURCE: Artful.org

Jill’s Mind’s Eye Tree for the New Place Project

Sculpture, PressJill Berelowitz

Jill Berelowitz will be casting the leading piece in conjunction with The Morris Singer Foundry to be featured in the renovated garden at the New Place Project.

'As well as all the building work taking place on site of the New Place Project, we’re also working with some very important artists to create beautiful sculptures to feature in the renovated garden.  Our leading piece, The Mind’s Eye Tree, is being created by Jill Berelowitz, in conjunction with The Morris Singer Foundry.  Together they will be casting a hawthorn tree in bronze metal, as well as using branches found at our own Mary Arden’s Farm.' 

Source: http://www.shakespeareliveshere.co.uk

Moving Forward and Diving Girl | T5 Gallery and Terminal 5 Sofitel Luxury Hotel

Exhibition, SculptureJill Berelowitz

2015 Ongoing Group exhibition

Moving Forward and Diving Girl

Situated in Terminal 5 Heathrow Airport, the T5 Gallery is a unique cultural space within one of the world’s premier airports. As one of the few permanent commercial fine art galleries in the world to be situated in an airport, the T5 Gallery is in an ideal position to reach and introduce art to a wide international audience.

The gallery stages group shows along with an ongoing exhibition programme in association with the Terminal 5 Sofitel luxury hotel.

Meet the Artist Working on Sculpture for New Place

Interview, Press, SculptureJill Berelowitz

"As well as all the building work taking place on site of the New Place Project, we’re also working with some very important artists to create beautiful sculptures to feature in the renovated garden.

Our leading piece, The Mind’s Eye Tree, is being created by Jill Berelowitz, in conjunction with The Morris Singer Foundry.  Together they will be casting a hawthorn tree in bronze metal, as well as using branches found at our own Mary Arden’s Farm. 

The Morris Singer Foundry, which dates back to 1848 are well known for their casting work and are recognised as the oldest fine art foundry in the world. Jill has also designed and created many exciting and memorable sculptures for her previous commissions, including, ‘Diving Girl’, which was placed at entrance for the London 2012 Olympics, and also, the ‘Pair Oar’ rowers, which are permanently on display in Henley-On-Thames.

 

We recently spoke to the pair about their work and here is what was said:

You were one of the first artists we contacted to work on the project. What was your initial reaction to being asked to create a piece to feature in Shakespeare’s New Place?

Morris Singer are greatly honoured at being chosen as the foundry and Jill as the sculptor to be associated with the most recognised and iconic Englishman with worldwide recognition.

Jill, you have created Bronze Trees in previous works of art.  What is it that you find so intriguing about them?

Up until now I have used apple branches as my reference as it symbolises the beginning of time beginning with Adam and Eve which is a celebration of life.  As my trees emerge from the ground, they are symbolic as the Earth Mother and then culminates with dancing tree figures with outstretched arms celebrating life on the branches.

Bronze has always been my first choice of sculpture medium, as with trees, it comes from the earth and will be there for eternity.  It also improves a sculpture with its own persona.

Finally, the Morris Singer Art Foundry have a great tradition of working with metal, what do you think the foundries greatest artistic achievement is to date?

Morris Singer Foundry have created beautiful sculptures over the past 150 years worldwide including the fountains in Trafalgar Square, numerous sculptures by Frampton including Peter Pan, Eros, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and recently Gandhi in Parliament Square by Philip Jackson.

We are extremely excited to be working with both Jill Berelowitz and the Morris Singer Foundry and can’t wait to see the final piece in place. "

Source: www.shakespeare.org 

Core Femme | Innovative sculpture unveiling at Charing Cross Hospital

SculptureJill Berelowitz

The Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is delighted to announce a new Jill Berelowitz 20 foot high sculpture is to be installed at the entrance of The River Wing of the Charing Cross Hospital.

The sculpture Core Femme is composed of female torsos in bone coloured resin represent stacked vertebrae in this soaring, spinal column and is a towering image of the body’s central element, exemplifying the core through which life’s energy flows.

Jill Berelowitz said: “I am delighted and very honoured to have Core Femme at such a prominent and prestigious location. Core Femme has found her rightful home”

Heathrow Welcomes A Post-Olympic Arrival | The Art Newspaper

PressJill Berelowitz

 

A sculpture from the London Olympics Village has found a temporary new home at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5. The Diving Girl, 2012, by the Johannesburg-born artist Jill Berelowitz will be splashing down in the terminal’s Expo Gallery tomorrow evening. Although the 3.5m-high bronze sculpture will be a permanent fixture at Heathrow “for the foreseeable future”, according to a spokeswoman, the work is also for sale, number three of nine editions, with a price tag of £35,000. The fate of other works created for the Games, including large-scale works by Marc Quinn and Damien Hirst, remains a mystery. Source: The Art Newspaper

‘Tree of Life’ at the Alon Zakaim Fine Art Gallery

ExhibitionJill Berelowitz

Jill’s ‘Tree of Life’ sculpture is now is now on display until 18th April at the Alon Zakaim Fine Art Gallery on Dover Street

The exhibition will run at 5-7 Dover St. London W1S 4LD from 12 March-18 April 2013. Entry is free, and gallery opening hours are 9am-6pm, Monday-Friday, or by appointment.

Jill Berelowitz Interview | Kensington & Chelsea Magazine

Interview, PressJill Berelowitz

Q&A with Jill Berelowitz about her current sculpture exhibition in Kensington

Q. Was sport the main inspiration for this new group of sculptures?
A. I’m inspired by movement and these now pieces do overlap with athletic movement as I was commissioned to create a Diving Girl for our Olympic Village.
Q. Some of your human figures have attenuated forms in the manner of the late Giacometti: did he influence your work?
A. My figures are inspired by nature, organic shapes and movement but not by Giacometti.
Q. Did your Olympic Village and Heathrow Terminal 5 exhibitions lead to international interest in your work?
A. Yes, international enquiries and new sales and commissions have been generated by those exhibitions and also by my giant spinal sculpture displayed in Cavendish Square, part of Westminster City Council’s festival City of Sculpture.
Q. What future plans do you have in mind for your sculpture?
A. The themes of the cycle of life and regeneration are evolving in my new sculpture and commissions, and I am working with interesting, varied media that include crystal, resin, bronze and stainless steel.