This month we feature the sculpture Jauchzet.

Jauchzet is made from forged and constructed steel and measures just over 1.5 metres in height. It was created by sculptor Tom Grimsey in 1992. Its clever design provides constant interest, revealing different perspectives of the movement of a dancer, depending on the angle from which it is viewed.

About the Sculpture

The title Jauchzet literally translated means ‘rejoice’.

As well as representing an exclamation of joy, this semi-abstract figure of a human is also inspired by a Martha Graham Technique dance position.

The sculpture reflects the artist’s intention to make "a rich fully three-dimensional object which makes sense of itself with rhyme and reason".

Below is a short film from 1975 showing some of the dance movements developed by American choreographer and dancer Martha Graham (1894-1991), in which you can see the sculptor’s inspiration for Jauchzet.

About the Artist

Tom Grimsey (1960 – 2014) was born in London and lived in the West Midlands before moving to Exeter. He studied sculpture at Wimbledon and St Martin’s School of Art and was a ‘Henry Moore Sculpture Fellow’ from 1990 – 1991. He taught at Brighton University from 2003, and from 2008 was Head of Sculpture there.

Grimsey connected with researchers in the development of ideas for his work. In the 2000s he became interested in the world of nanoscience, and collaborated with researchers and technical experts in a cross-disciplinary project called Giants of the Infinitesimal, which explored the idea of magnifying the nanoworld literally, and developed large scale kinetic sculptures that mimicked some of the astonishing things that happen in the nanoworld. Find out more about Giants of the Infinitesimal here.

See Jauchzet and other sculptures in the University’s fine art collection on the Streatham Campus by taking the Sculpture Walk. Find out more and download a map to enable you to take a free self-guided tour here.

Acknowledgements

Tom Grimsey Obituary by Peter Forbes, The Guardian, 3 December 2014

University of Brighton Article 'Tom Grimsey'.

Giants of the Infinitesimal website: https://giantsoftheinfinitesimal.co.uk/