Nicholas Monro Biography

Nicholas Monro was born in London in 1936. He studied art at the Chelsea School of Art between 1958-1961. Shortly after graduating he assumed what would be a long-term teaching career. He began at the Swindon School of Art before he returned to the Chelsea School of Art in 1968.

That same year he began exhibiting his playful sculpture works, both at home and abroad. Monro exhibited in solo shows at the Robert Fraser Gallery in London as well as at the Galerie Pribaut in Amsterdam. At this early stage in his career he had already developed the cast fiberglass method that he is now well known for. The stylization of his figures has leant a distinctive character to his work, which is strengthened by their bright colours.

Monro is celebrated for being one of the few British Pop artists to work in sculpture. His works are often three-dimensional realizations of cartoon or comic book clichés including Money Bags (1965) and Martians (1965). The references to familiar visual culture and often strong resemblance to popular toys, aligns Monro’s work clearly with the accessible but critical Pop idiom. Other British sculptors with whom Monro is frequently associated include Jann Haworth and Clive Barker.

Monro was recently included in some major Pop Art retrospectives including Art and the 60s: This Was Tomorrow (2004) at the Tate Britain.