ALEXANDER SOKOLOV 1955-2022

Alexander Sokolov (born 1955, UK) was a direct-carving or *taille directe / talla directa* marble sculptor. The sculpture showcased here is arranged thematically, not chronologically, by material, or size.

This site serves as an essay with a message, presenting a record of visual and written content from sculptor Alexander Sokolov.

In 1976 he went to Paris where his training as a professional artist began. During his time there, he studied under Miklos Dallos (1922 - 2008), a Hungarian sculptor whose work no doubt had a major impact on Sokolov’s style as it developed, he also lived with his teacher during this period. Dallos taught his pupil the technique of taille directe, or direct carving, a method that stuck with Sokolov throughout his career. This modern approach was introduced to the art world by the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876 - 1957) in 1906 while studying in the École des Beaux-Arts and derives significantly from the classical, pre-planned modes of sculpting that went before. The technique allows the act of carving to determine the final shape of the work and often produces more rounded figures and shapes, straying away from the highly detailed forms of Greek and Roman influence.

Alexander Sokolov has primarily worked between studios in Castletownshend, County Cork, Ireland, and Olula del Rio in Almeria, Spain. He has held nineteen one-man shows in European cities, furthering his artistic journey. He has used marble from Cork, Kilkenny & Connemara in Ireland; Estremoz in Portugal; Carrara in Italy; Saint Beat and Provence in France; and in Spain, from the provinces of Alicante and Murcia, the Pais Vasco and Granada, but chiefly from Macael and Chercos in Almeria's Sierra de los Filabres.

The 1993 book *Sokolov: Esculturas* (2nd 1994 edition *Sokolov: Sculpture*) by the renowned Basque poet and critic Mario Angel Marrodán can be found at the National College of Art & Design Library in Dublin and in many Spanish Universities and Royal Academies of Fine Art, and as recorded at https://www.worldcat.org/title/sokolov-esculturas/oclc/1025075510.