Rick Kirby is an English sculptor born in Gillingham, Kent. He started his career as an art teacher, before quitting after sixteen years to focus on his work. Much of his work is figural, reflecting an interest in the human face and form, and is primarily in steel, which he describes as giving a scale and "whoom-factor" not possible with other media.
Kirby's Formation (2003) stands on the entrance to the Ravenswood housing estate in Ipswich, Suffolk. It is inspired by a World War II-era poster depicting aircraft flying in close formation being tracked by searchlights.
Sutton Hoo Helmet (2002)
Sutton Hoo Helmet (sculpture)
Sutton Hoo Helmet is a 2002 sculpture by the English artist Rick Kirby. A representation of the Anglo-Saxon helmet by the same name found in the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, it was commissioned by the National Trust to suspend outside an exhibition hall at the Sutton Hoo visitor centre. At the opening of the centre, the sculpture was unveiled by the Literature Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney on 13 March 2002. It remained in place, dominating the entrance of the exhibition hall, until 2019, when it was moved to the entrance to the Sutton Hoo site.
Sutton Hoo Helmet outside the Sutton Hoo visitor centre
2015 solo exhibition by Kirby at Axle Arts in Bath, showing the maquette for Sutton Hoo Helmet
