Carl Plackman was one of the most profound sculptors of his day and a generous and influential teacher, developing his work whilst lecturing at Goldsmiths College, London and other institutions across the UK. Many of the students he taught have since become major names in British contemporary art including Tony Cragg, Damien Hirst, Liam Gillick and Alison Wilding.

Carl Plackman studied at the Royal College of Art under the tutelage of Bryan Kneale, Bernard Meadows and Ralph Brown. His work consists of sculpture, drawings, installation and occasionally photographs. In many cases his work is an attempt to examine how people communicate with each other and how objects often get in the way. The work appears to use real objects but more often than not these have been completely remade in a different material that become a decoy or a sham. The work often grew out of his interest in poetry, philosophy, cinema and the origins of language but he also became concerned with the subversiveness of the silent still image.