Gareth Griffiths MRBS

Artist Statement

Gareth is a Welsh Sculptor originally from Holywell, North Wales. He studied sculpture at Bretton Hall college – (University of Leeds) graduating in 2002, and then subsequently went on to complete a Masters in Design from Leeds Metropolitan in 2004,

Gareth also became a member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 2015.

Since graduating Gareth was shortlisted for the prestigious Welsh young artist of the year award for the national Eisteddfod, he then took part in a various shows including Collect gallery, Liverpool (2003), White-wall Gallery, Leeds (2004), Whitehall waterfront Gallery, Leeds (2006) and was included in the Liverpool Biennale in 2008 and had work on show in different locations across the city including Tate Liverpool.

Gareth was also invited to discuss my art work on Pnawan da a welsh language S4C day time TV show in 2003 and was invited to talk about his Manchester United commission on a Welsh language football radio show called Ar y Marc in 2012.

Recently he has had work on exhibition in Prague, and was also shortlisted for a large public sculpture in Corino in Turin Italy.

He has also been included in outdoor exhibitions at Birtley House in Guilford, the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Hampshire as well as Tarpey Gallery in Castle Donington and the Walker Galleries in Harrogate.

Recently Gareth has created a series of works for Michael O’hare’s restaurant The Man Behind The Curtain in Leeds.   

Gareth’s Sculpture is based on American west coast architecture called Googie.

Googie architecture was born of the post-WWII car-culture and thrived in the 1950s and 1960s. Bold angles, colourful signs, plate glass, sweeping cantilevered roofs and pop-culture imagery captured the attention of drivers on adjacent streets. Bowling alleys looked like tomorrow land, Coffee shops looked like something in a Jetsons cartoon. For decades, many "serious" architects decried Googie as frivolous or crass. But today we recognize how perfectly its form followed its function.