Simon Hitchens (b. 1967)

Sculptor of abstract forms born in Sussex, now based in Somerset. His father John (b. 1940), grandfather Ivon (1893–1979) and great-grandfather Alfred (1861–1942) were all painters. Simon Hitchens studied at West Surrey College of Art & Design, 1985–86, and Bristol Polytechnic’s faculty of art and design, 1987–90, where he gained a degree in sculpture. He was assistant to sculptors Peter Randall-Page, 1990, and Anish Kapoor, 1993–96. The British Council selected Hitchens for sculpture symposiums in Slovakia, 1994, and Colombia, 1996. In 1998, he was elected ARBS. In the same year, four of his sculptures were bought for the Hiscox Plc art collection, London. In 1999, he executed his first publicly sited sculpture, Quiet Understanding, granite, for Conquest Hospital, Hastings. Other public sculptures include Coastline, 2005, granite and resin, Workington, Cumbria; Parallel Presence, 2007, granite, Limeharbour, Isle of Dogs, London; From Dawn until Dusk, 2008, granite, Boscombe Pier, Bournemouth; Transition Point, 2013, granite and polished stainless steel, Leys School, Cambridge; Unity, 2013, granite and blue resin, King’s Cross, London; Glorious Beauty, 2014, a glacial boulder and a stainless steel cast, Kensington High Street; and The Space Between, 2015, granite, Forbury Place, Reading.

Bibliography: D. Buckman, Artists in Britain since 1945 (2 vols: A–L, M–Z), Bristol, 2006; T. Cavanagh, Public Sculpture of Kensington and Chelsea with Westminster South-West, Watford, 2023, pp. 1–2, 123, 237–39; D.A. Cross, Public Sculpture of Lancashire and Cumbria, Liverpool, 2017, pp. 192; Simon Hitchens website.

Terry Cavanagh November 2022