Rob Ward has played a significant role in the shape and trajectory of British sculpture in the second half of the twentieth century; his work spanning drawing, painting, sculpture and installation. Graduating from King's College, University of Newcastle in 1973; at the time, a unique place to study, being the sole fine art honours degree offered in Britain, in which he took the Bauhaus-inspired Basic Design course developed by Richard Hamition and Victor Pasmore. This modernist approach, with its focus on organic forms, spatial understanding and mathematics, had an emphatic effect on him and continues to impact his work and teaching today.
Ward went on to gain a Masters from Reading University, graduating in 1975, where his degree show was hung by the likes of Terry Frost and Patrick Heron, before being awarded scholarships to continue his studies at Athens School of Fine Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts, Rome. After a short time spent back in Northern England, Ward moved to Australia to take up the position of Programme Coordinator for Sculpture at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales. His sculptural work became more expansive without sacrificing any of his previous order and consideration of form, balance and poise. Simultaneously, the discovery of a ceramic-coated paper called Kromekote added to the evolution of Ward's drawing and painting, creating works that spanned both disciplines and fell somewhere in between.
In 1982 he moved back to North East England, initially working as Senior Lecturer in Sculpture at Humberside Polytechnic in Hull before moving to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. Ward continued Senior Lecturer positions at West Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education and then at Bretton Hall, University of Leeds. A significant exhibition, organised by the Henry Moore Centre at Leeds City Art Gallery followed in 1989. The show was in part a retrospective but also comprised a newly realised body of sculpture.
His work sits in communion with artists such as Tony Cragg, Carl Plackman, David Nash and Richard Deacon.