>Ian Dawson
>Group Exhibition, Back to the Cave: The Full Spectrum, Clearwell Caves, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, 23rd May - 31st August 2025
>Exhibiting Artists: Monira Al Qadiri, Olivia Bax, Bruce Beasley, Hamish Black, Julie Brook, Jon Buck, Rachel Carter, Daniel Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick RA, Ann Christopher RA, Geoffrey Clarke RA, Michael Cooper, Terence Coventry, Ian Dawson, Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark, Paul de Monchaux, Steve Dilworth, Abigail Fallis, Sally Fawkes, Sue Freeborough, Antony Gormley OBE RA, Nigel Hall RA, Maggi Hambling CBE, Nicola Hicks MBE, Damien Hirst, John Hoskin, Steve Hurst, Richard Jackson, Jonathan Kingdon, Bryan Kneale MBE RA, Hannah Lim, Jeff Lowe, Sarah Lucas, Susie MacMurray, Anita Mandl, Briony Marshall, Charlotte Mayer, Polly Morgan, Daniel Nadler, Breon O’Casey, Eilis O’Connell RHA, Isaac Okwir, Peter Oloya, Angela Palmer, Pangolin Designs, Merete Rasmussen, Colin Reid, Lorraine Robbins, Conrad Shawcross RA, STIK, Tavares Strachan, Almuth Tebbenhoff, Lisa Traxler, William Tucker RA, Gavin Turk, Keith Tyson, Patricia Volk, Moritz Waldemeyer, Jason Wason and Liz West.
>Group Exhibition, Back to the Cave: The Full Spectrum, Clearwell Caves, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, 23rd May - 31st August 2025
>Exhibiting Artists: Monira Al Qadiri, Olivia Bax, Bruce Beasley, Hamish Black, Julie Brook, Jon Buck, Rachel Carter, Daniel Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick RA, Ann Christopher RA, Geoffrey Clarke RA, Michael Cooper, Terence Coventry, Ian Dawson, Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark, Paul de Monchaux, Steve Dilworth, Abigail Fallis, Sally Fawkes, Sue Freeborough, Antony Gormley OBE RA, Nigel Hall RA, Maggi Hambling CBE, Nicola Hicks MBE, Damien Hirst, John Hoskin, Steve Hurst, Richard Jackson, Jonathan Kingdon, Bryan Kneale MBE RA, Hannah Lim, Jeff Lowe, Sarah Lucas, Susie MacMurray, Anita Mandl, Briony Marshall, Charlotte Mayer, Polly Morgan, Daniel Nadler, Breon O’Casey, Eilis O’Connell RHA, Isaac Okwir, Peter Oloya, Angela Palmer, Pangolin Designs, Merete Rasmussen, Colin Reid, Lorraine Robbins, Conrad Shawcross RA, STIK, Tavares Strachan, Almuth Tebbenhoff, Lisa Traxler, William Tucker RA, Gavin Turk, Keith Tyson, Patricia Volk, Moritz Waldemeyer, Jason Wason and Liz West.
Gallery Pangolin and Clearwell Caves will once again be taking sculpture underground this Spring.
The first ‘Back to the Cave’ sculpture exhibition referenced the origins of art and the role of caves as a primal shelter for humans and animals alike. Colour, the key focus for this second venture, is inspired by the artists’ pigments of yellow, brown, red and purple ochres mined since the neolithic period and still extracted today by John Wright free miner at Clearwell
Exhibited work: Stone 24 (50percent) 2025, 3D printed PETG
As its name suggests, Stone 24 (50percent) is a scaled down reference to another object. This other object in question is Stone 24 of the Neolithic Henge at Avebury. By copying the form of the Avebury stone this sculpture seeks to operate at the intersection of archaeology and contemporary art. The story of Stone 24, known as the Blacksmith’s Stone is remarkable in its own right; it was originally installed by Alexander Keiller during his extensive restoration in the 1930s, it is itself a composite object—a modern intervention in the henge. Captured digitally through high-resolution laser scanning, this scaled-down sculpture re-materializes Stone 24 at half its original size and transforms its presence through vivid, unnatural coloration. These vibrant hues rupture the illusion of historical authenticity, foregrounding the subjective nature of archaeological reconstruction and drawing attention to how constructed narratives embed themselves within landscape. As a hybrid artifact; an archaeological reconstruction, digital surrogate, and artistic interpretation all in one—the sculpture underscores how acts of reproduction are bound up in a fiction. Moreover, by scaling the stone down and emphasizing artificiality, the work invites viewers to engage with ideas of monumentality, materiality, and authenticity, provoking questions about our perception of objects and the ways we reconstruct and interpret our past.
Clearwell Caves is located in the Forest of Dean Gloucestershire at The Rocks, Clearwell, Coleford, GL168JR