Rowan Gillespie

L'Eta Della Donna, Veneto Banca, Montebelluna-Treviso, Italy, 2009.

Lazy Lady with her creator in Liechtenstein, June 2008

In 2007 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Fine Art by Regis University in Denver, Colorado.

In 2007, Shane Brennan and Tom Burke of Moondance Productions released a film biography on Gillespie's life and work, called Sculpting Life.

Migrants (bronze), 2007, Ireland Park, Toronto Harbourfront. The Jubilant Man stands 320 cm tall.

Looking Together with Helmut Kindle and the artist Rowan Gillespie, taken in Triesen 2006

Gerard Manley Hopkins, (poet in bronze), 2005. Slightly larger than life-size. Regis University, Denver, Colorado.

Rowan Gillespie's Looking at the Moon (bronze), 2001, Gouda, the Netherlands. Stands 335 cm tall.

Ripples of Ulysses (bronze), 2000. Merrion Hotel, Dublin. 200 cm

The Irish Famine and subsequent catastrophic migration has motivated two of Gillespie's works. In several of his site specific pieces, such as Famine (1997) on the Custom House Quay in Dublin, his life-sized human figures are emaciated and haunting. In June 2007, a series of statues by Gillespie was unveiled by President Mary McAleese on the quayside in Toronto's Ireland Park. The work commemorates the arrival of refugees from the Great Famine. The Hamilton Spectator described the work as follows:

Birdy (bronze), 1997. Height 122 cm. Perched on the windowsill of 3, Crescent Hall, Mount Street, Dublin.

Influenced by the sculptor Henry Moore and the painter Edvard Munch, Gillespie uses the lost wax casting process to portray human emotions. Having worked almost exclusively on site specific art since 1996, Gillespie's public works can be found in his native Ireland, Europe, the United States and Canada.

Dilemma (alloy and plexiglass), 1978. This sculpture is 53 cm tall. (Courtesy of Roger Kohn)

At the age of 21 he married Hanne, they had their first child Alexander, and he held his first solo exhibition in Norway. In 1977 he returned to Dublin where he set up his foundry/workshop and established himself in the years between 1977 and 1995 with Solo exhibitions at the Solomon Gallery in Dublin, arts fairs, and numerous group shows throughout Europe and the United States. He then decided to concentrate on site specific art, notably The Cycle of Life, Colorado (1991); The Famine Series, Dublin (1996/7); and Ripples of Ulysses 2000/1.

At age seven, he was sent to boarding school in England, although the family remained in Cyprus until he was ten. In 1969, he attended York School of Art where he was first introduced to the lost-wax casting process by the bronze sculptor Sally Arnup. Here he also met his wife to be, Hanne, who runs the Clonlea Yoga Studio in Blackrock. In 1970, he attended Kingston College of Art where he was tutored by woodcarver John Robson and through whom he met, and was encouraged by, Henry Moore.

Rowan Fergus Meredith Gillespie (born 1953) is an Irish bronze casting sculptor of international renown. Born in Dublin to Irish parents, Gillespie spent his formative years in Cyprus.

"it alluded not only to the John Lennon peace anthem, but also to the dreams for a utopian society in Ireland espoused by Rowan's grandfather, James Creed Meredith (1874-1942)".