The Bristol Post picks up on Pete success in being invited to represent the UK at the Islamic Arts festival:
Man of steel: Bristol artist has work hand-picked for Islamic Arts Festival UAE
Despite producing art seen by thousands of people in Bristol every day, Pete Moorhouse has a low profile in the city where he lives and works.
But now the 51-year-old, who specialises in steel sculptures for public display, has seen his work picked for a prestigious exhibition halfway around the world.
Examples of Pete’s public art work can be found in several Bristol Hospitals, Horfield Health Centre and a number of schools as well as on Brandon Hill, the Bristol and Bath Railway Path and Concorde Way cycle routes.
Pete, who lives in Horfield, does little in the way of marketing and self promotion.
So when organisers of the Islamic Arts Festival in Sharjah, one of the United Arab Emirates, got in touch to buy two of his sculptures, he was slightly startled.
“It’s a very prestigious event,” Pete told the Bristol Post.
“More than likely they found me from looking at my website.”
The two sculptures that will be flown out to Sharjah are both inspired by Islamic art Pete has seen while travelling in Morocco, Dubai and Turkey. They feature the symmetrical designs and geometric patterns often seen in mosques.
Both pieces have been bubble-wrapped and will be collected
by a courier service before they are flown to the Middle East.
The festival will be opened by Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi – the ruler of Sharjah.
“There are a number of artists there who are all respected.”
“I think in the world at the moment there is an increasing polarisation of different cultures. This exhibition will bring together artists and and cultures in a positive way.”
To create the sculptures, Pete designs them on a computer, acquires the metals, shapes them and then takes them to a professional welder to “glue” them together.
This time round Bambury Metal Fabrications and FC Hammonds – both local firms who “enjoy working on something a little different” – gave a helping hand.
Pete, who is also the arts educator at St Werburgh’s Park Nursery, is now working on his next project – a sculpture which will be taken out to Dallas, Texas.
He has been making sculpture for over 20 years and regularly exhibits collections in the UK and overseas.
Pete is also a member of the North Bristol Artists and will exhibiting work at St Bart’s Church in St Andrew’s on November 28 and 29.