ARTWORK and sculpture designs by up-and-coming young artist Max Openshaw, who graduated from King’s Ely Sixth Form last year, is on display at the Saatchi Gallery in London.
Max’s designs will be displayed alongside the Rolling Stones exhibition, which was launched this week. Exhibitionism is a collection of more than 500 artefacts, borrowed from the rock and roll band’s archive and private collectors, which includes musical instruments, lyrics, sketches, film clips, outfits, posters and album artwork.
His work will be seen by visitors from all over the world, along with pieces by a vast array of acclaimed artists, designers, musicians and writers, including Andy Warhol, Alexander McQueen, Ossie Clark, Tom Stoppard and Martin Scorsese.
In 2015, Max created a 5m-tall sculpture made of recycled cardboard, acrylic paint and polystyrene balls, which was selected as one of only 20 international finalists of the prestigious Saatchi Gallery/Deutsche Bank Art Prize for Schools Competition. There were over 20,000 entrants and Max’s enormous sculpture was the only site-specific installation to be shortlisted. The sculpture, along with three other designs Max produced while he was a student at King’s Ely, will be exhibited for the duration of the Rolling Stones exhibition, along with work by seven other students who entered the competition.
“Construction demonstrates what can be achieved with determination, a belief in one’s vision and a willingness to take a few risks,” commented King’s Ely’s Head of Fine Art, Tom Ward, who taught Max at A Level.
“It was great to see the way Max embraced the challenges of creating such an imposing and ambitious piece.”