Berrell Jensen
Berrell Jensen | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1933 |
| Died | July 25, 2015 (aged 81–82) Cork, Ireland |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Education | Bachelor of science, Social science |
| Occupation(s) | Sculptor, Social worker, Teacher |
| Children | Sandra Jensen, Michael Jensen |
Berrell Jensen (1933-2015) was a South African postwar and contemporary sculptor, social worker, and teacher. She is known as one of the best-known sculptors in welded copper and other metals. She left South Africa for London in the 1960s where she became a key figure in running community centers in Highgate and Hampstead. Her works have been auctioned multiple times with realized prices being between $1,006 and $1,635.[1][2][3]
Early life and education
Jensen was born in 1933 in Potchefstroom, South Africa and had a sister named Robin Jay. She graduated from Natal University in Durban where she did her bachelor's degree in social science. Jensen took a diploma in planning from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in 1984. She learnt welding there and created large sculptures made out of bronze, copper, silver, and enamel.[4][2][1]
Personal life
Jensen was married to Anton Jensen with whom she had two children, a daughter, Sandra, who is a writer and a son, Michael, who is an IT and communication consultant. Due to the apartheid regime, she and her husband decided to relocate to the United Kingdom from Johannesburg. They feared that their son would be conscripted in the army if they stayed.[1] They stopped at Crete, and the family met a car accident in 1969 in which Jensen’s husband was killed. Jensen and her children stayed in Greece and moved to County Donegal, Ireland, in 1977 when she was invited by the socialist priest, Father James McDyer, to build an art studio to promote local art.[2] She has three grandchildren named Oliver, Hugh, and Lucia. After the death of her husband, she got married to Nicholas Trichas, who was a Greek lawyer.[1][5][6][4]
Career
Sculptor
Jensen was a postwar & contemporary artist who created multiple metal sculptures throughout her career.[3] She used oxy-acetylene torch, hacksaw, metal guillotine to craft her sculptures. Her metalwork has been used in decorating public buildings and homes. In Greece, Jensen stepped into building renovations.[5] She organized her first exhibition in Durban in 1960. After her first exhibition, Jensen did nineteen more exhibitions in the next eight years. This brought her works into the attention of architects and she did fourteen government projects that included fountains. [4]
Work and exhibitions
Jensen has worked on many pieces, including Thalassa, Evolution, Tabletop, Biosphere, Landscape, Lot 122, Abstract, among others.[7][6]
| Solo shows [6] | |
|---|---|
| Location | Year |
| Pabros Theatre, Durban | 1960 |
| New Directions, Johannesburg | 1962 |
| Gallery Shear, Cape Town | 1965 |
| Gallery 101, Johannesburg | 1966 |
| Gallery Shear, Cape Town | 1966 |
| Gallery 101, Johannesburg | 1966 |
| Gallery 101, Johannesburg | 1967 |
| Gallery 101, Johannesburg | 1972 |
| The Village Gallery, Pretoria | 1972 |
| SA Association of Arts | 1972 |
| Compendium Galleries, Birmingham | 1973 |
| Elvaston Gallery, London | 1973 |
| Butlin Gallery, Dillington House, Ilminster | 1973 |
| Drian Galleries, London | 1974 |
| Gallery 21, Hyde Park Johannesburg | 1974 |
| Michael + Ann Sutton Home, Parktown North, Johannesburg | 1975 and 1976 |
| Belfast, N. Ireland | 1979 |
| Group shows [6] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Show | Location | Year |
| Natal Artists | Durban | 1960 |
| Group Exhibition | Johannesburg | 1962 |
| Two-person show with Peter Davis | Johannesburg | 1962 |
| Two-women show with Barbara Greig | Johannesburg | 1963 |
| The Year's Findings | Adler Fielding Galleries, Johannesburg | 1964 |
| Artists of Fame & Promise | Adler Fielding Galleries, Johannesburg | 1965 |
| Republican Festival Exhibition | SA Association of Arts, Pretoria | 1966 |
| Opening exhibition | Hester Rupert Art Museum, Graaff-Reinet | 1966 |
| South African Sculptors | Adler Fielding Galleries, Johannesburg | 1967 |
| Johannesburg artists | SA Association of Arts, Pretoria | 1967 |
| Kinetic Sculpture - 2-person show with Douglas Jay | Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg | 1968 |
| New Forms Gallery | Athens, Greece | 1970 |
| 10 South African Sculptors | Gallery 101, Johannesburg | 1971 |
| South African Sculptors | Gallery 101, Johannesburg | 1972 |
| n/a | Bruton Art Gallery, Somerset UK | 1973 |
| Three women | Chapel Gallery, Wessex Wilts UK | 1974 |
| n/a | Gallery 21 London | 1974 |
| n/a | Gallery 21 London | 1975 |
| n/a | Octagon Gallery, Belfast, N. Ireland | 1976 |
| n/a | Ireland House, Dublin | 1976 |
| n/a | Hampstead Hall, Hampstead, London | 1985 |
Jensen worked on large-scale public commissions for Netherlands Bank building, Phillips Radio Factory, Jan Smuts Airport, and Windhoek Museum, among others. In 1977, Jensen moved to the United Kingdom when she took up an invitation to start a craft center in County Donegal, Ireland.[1][8] She created an art studio, and she educated students in metal and sculptural work and jewelry making, printmaking, and other crafts.[2]
Jensen bought a 300-year-old Protestant church in Rochfortbridge, County Westmeath in 1993. She renovated the building to assign a large area to her metal studio. She started welding again, and completed numerous commissions including one for the Midland Health Board in Tullamore and the Tanyard Resource Centre in Offaly. The Dublin Corporation commissioned six metal screens that 1.75 metres wide by 5.82 metres high for the entrance stairwells of the Marrowbone Lane Flats. She completed this job prior to a first hip-replacement in 1996 when she was 63 years of age.[4]
Community service
Jensen was was invited by Father McDyer to set up a craft centre in Glencolumbkille, Ireland in 1977 as part of an initiative to develop local industries. She was appointed Assistant Director of an adult education centre named Open Centre which was funded by charitable trusts and was located in Belfast. During the time she was pursuing a Diploma in Planning at the Architectural Association in London, she set up the Highgate Newtown Community Centre. She then became Hampstead Community Centre’s Centre Director, a post she held for nine years. [4]
Jensen was also an environmentalist. In 2001, she organised a County Westmeath environmental group that became a voice against a controversial landfill site in the Killucan area. She used her knowledge of local wild life, peat bog and wetlands helped prevent the dump proceeding.[4]
Death
Jensen died at the age of 83 due to a heart attack in the Mercy University Hospital in Cork, Ireland, on July 25, 2015. The last of her work was the restoration of a 300-year-old protestant church.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Hands-on Berrell got community centre out of a fix". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
- ^ a b c d Unknown. "Terry-anne Stevenson: Reflecting on an Art legacy". Retrieved 2020-03-29.
- ^ a b "Jensen, Berrell | Biography". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Obituaries - Berrell Jensen". Architectural Association School of Architecture. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "New angle on Berrell's art" (PDF). 2 March 1972. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d "Berrell JENSEN archives". www.art-archives-southafrica.ch. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
- ^ "Thalassa" (PDF). Art Archives South Africa. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "The tale of the heavy chrome and vinyl parastatal chairs". Huisraad Modern. Retrieved 2020-03-29.