Michael Sandle sculpture "A Mighty Blow for Freedom" purchased with help of UK Art Fund contribution.

LONDON, ENGLAND.- The Art Fund has offered a grant to The Collection to help purchase a bronze sculpture by one of the world's finest contemporary sculptors. "A Mighty Blow for Freedom - Fuck the Media", by Michael Sandle, has been on loan to The Collection by the artist since 1996 but the possibility that it might be put up for sale meant that sufficient funds had to be raised. This notable grant marks only the second time in its history that the Art Fund has paid for a sculpture that stands in the open air; the other being the "Burghers of Calais" by Rodin. Thanks to the Art Fund's contribution, Sandle's sculpture will now remain in place.

A Mighty Blow for Freedom, 1988, expresses the full force of the external motion of a powerful helmeted, androgynous figure swinging a cudgel to smash a television screen. Reminiscent of the imagery found in Futurism and Vorticism it succinctly sums up Sandle's well-known contempt for the media. He says, 'This sculpture is autobiographical. I have vivid memories of my mother thrusting a poker through our radio to end a family argument about whether or not it was 'tuned-in' correctly. My father, who was at that time employed as a radio engineer, fixed it, and almost immediately afterwards put the same poker through it to settle a similar argument. Many years later I demolished my TV set with a sledgehammer in a fit of rage - dangerous but immensely therapeutic. It is the power to manipulate opinion and distort the truth that I hate so much about the media and in particular television advertising ... the irony is that art so often functions in the same way as advertising - both can give up their meaning subliminally'.

Michael Sandle has exhibited widely and undertaken many commissions, the most significant of these being the Memorial of the Victims of a Helicopter Disaster, Mannheim (1985) and perhaps the Malta Siege Memorial (1989-93) - a large project incorporating both figurative elements and a 13-tonne bronze bell, the biggest bell ever forged. His largest commission in England is the memorial to the world's seafarers for the International Maritime organisation in London.

Sandle studied at Douglas School of Art and Technology, Isle of Man. During his National Service he attended evening classes at Chester College of Fine Art before studying printmaking at the Slade School of Fine Art, receiving tuition from Lucien Freud. During the 1960s, Sandle taught in leading British art schools and has been visiting Associate Professor at the University of Calgary, Alberta, and at the University of British Columbia. In 1973 he moved to Germany and since 1980 he has been Professor of Sculpture at the Akadenmie der Bildenden Kunste, Karlsruhe. He has also taught in Pforzheim and as the guest of the DAAD Artists programme in Berlin. He was a member of the faculty of engraving at the British School in Rome and was Senior Research Fellow at De Montfort University in Lincoln.

Sandle was elected Royal Academician in 1989 but resigned in 1998 to register his objection to the Sensation exhibition. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1994.

A Mighty Blow for Freedom is the first work of art visitors see as they approach the Neo Classical-style gallery. The piece stands as one of a number of sculptures situated in the grounds, helping to extend the boundaries of The Collection beyond its walls, and is part of its education programme. In addition, it contributes to Lincoln Council's goal of becoming a 'City of Sculpture'.

A Mighty Blow for Freedom is on display in the grounds of The Collection, Lincoln.

Source: http://www.artdaily.com/section/news/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=14121&int_modo=1

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