Nick Bibby

Nick Bibby (b.1960) has an exceptional ability to render the most demanding forms, textures and figures in three dimensions. Acclaimed worldwide for his figurative animal, bird and wildlife studies, Bibby captures the character of each animal in uncompromising, awe-inspiring detail. It is through carefully and diligently observing the subject in its own habitat that this vitality is achieved.

Of his work, Bibby understands that art is experienced and interacted with differently by all viewers, marked by their own knowledge, experiences and contexts. It is for this reason that Bibby describes his artwork as being ‘laid out for you, representing my best efforts to push beyond the possible, to achieve the unachievable (perfection).’

Bibby’s unrivalled ability to produce naturalistic textures of feather and fur is exemplified by a series of sculptures that reconstruct extinct animals from the Mascarene Islands, including the Dodo and the Mauritius Scops Owl. This major project, in collaboration with Pangolin Editions and the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation, looks to “resurrect” each animal, highlighting both the damage mankind has inflicted on the natural world, but also the need for further conservation efforts. More information can be found here.

With subjects that range from the small to the monumental, Bibby’s sculptures are collected and admired by an ever-growing number of collectors around the world. His most notable public commission is of an immense, fifteen-foot Kodiak Brown Bear for the Ivy League Brown University, which stands on their campus in Providence, Rhode Island. Aptly titled Indomitable, the bear was installed in 2013. In the UK, Bibby’s charismatic Emperor Penguin welcomes visitors in the foyer of Cheltenham’s Wilson Art Gallery and Museum, to mark Edward Wilson’s important role in Scott’s Antarctic expeditions and the Wilson’s family role in founding the museum.