Considered one of the most influential artists of his generation, Richard Long’s works have extended the possibilities of sculpture beyond traditional materials and methods. Central to Long’s work is the activity of walking. Since the mid-1960s he has taken countless walks throughout the world, in such places as the Sahara Desert, Australia, Iceland and near his home in Bristol, United Kingdom. The walks bring together physical endurance and principles of order, action and idea. From these walks emerge the idea and material for his works. Long’s sculptures commonly take the form of geometric shapes—circles, lines, ellipses, and spirals – and are often composed of minerals native either to their location or to the British countryside Long has traveled by foot. He similarly sources mud and earth from his expeditions for use in performative paintings done on canvas or directly onto the wall.
Richard Long was born in 1945 in Bristol, United Kingdom and studied at the West of England College of Art before continuing on to the St. Martin’s School of Art and Design, London in 1966. Long represented Britain in the British Pavilion at the 1976 Venice Biennale and was awarded the Turner Prize in 1989. Long’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at major international museums and institutions, including the De Pont Museum, Tillburg, Netherlands; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland; Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain, Nice, France; and the Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom. In 1990 he became a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government and was awarded the highest international distinction for achievement in the arts, the Praemium Imperiale Prize for Sculpture in 2009. Long’s work is included in many prestigious public and private collections worldwide, including the Tate, London, United Kingdom; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada; and the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France. Richard Long lives and works in Bristol, United Kingdom.