Anthony Scott

Anthony Scott was born in rural County Fermanagh in 1968. From a farming background, he was surrounded by horses, dogs and bulls which often feature in his work. Feeling a close affinity with them and the land, Scott incorporates inspiration from animals and his Irish roots. He believes that animals ‘possess a sense of timelessness, unaffected by changing fashions. They’ve appeared in art from the earliest cave paintings – I like to think I’m continuing this tradition.’ Similarly inspired by the Celtic myths and literature that he absorbed as a boy and assimilated into his imagination and his understanding of himself and his native land, Scott’s aim is to create timeless sculpture that ‘in a hundred years from now still has … resonance and, to paraphrase Picasso, to make art that washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.’ (Irish Arts Review).

Scott’s sculptures of animals are imbued with human characteristics so that an emotional, immediately compelling, connection between the sculpture and the viewer occurs. The sculptures have ‘a soul’ and a vitality that belie the material from which they are made. These anthropomorphic elements are coupled with traits or an essence of the animal itself - an expression or stance - so that attributes are immediately evident: the strength and vigour of a bull or the softness of a foal. Animals play central roles in Celtic myths and often shape-shift from human form to animal or bird form. Scott views his sculptures from the perspective of the animal, rather than the human and the spirit of the heroic romance of the sagas is pervasive. ‘The Celts believed that the spirit world of animals often impinged on and influenced the human world and I have tried to convey this feeling in my work.’

Scott has exhibited extensively in Ireland, the UK and at numerous international art fairs. In 2011, the Queen unveiled his sculpture See the Stars at the Irish National Stud in Kildare. His work is included in the public collections of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland; the Barbican Centre, London; the Crafts Council of Ireland; and the US Ambassador’s Residence in Phoenix Park, Dublin; and is held in numerous important private collections including, Basil Blackshaw, Daniel Day Lewis, Dame Judi Dench, Lord and Lady Glentoran, Brian Keenan and Barry McGuigan.