‘Fish on a Bicycle’ is one of Steven Gregory’s most popular large bronzes and has been shown in public spaces around the globe bringing its quirky sense of humour to a wide audience. Making a poignant, if cheeky, reference to the feminist slogan ‘A woman needs a man like fish needs a bicycle’ this is a signature work by Gregory and instantly conveys his powerful use of humour. As Damien Hirst wrote in the foreword to Steven Gregory’s important exhibition at Cass Sculpture Foundation:

“Steven Gregory has many irons in the fire, a great asset in these visually bombarding morally conflicting times, seemingly effortlessly he creates art that prods and pokes, ignores and strokes and slaps and stuns us into submission”

Steven Gregory was born in Johannesburg (1952), later moving to London to study at St Martin’s College of Art (1970-72) and returning there to complete his degree in 1977. During these intervening years, Gregory was determined to engage with tools and to learn traditional skills, which led him to become an apprentice stonemason to the company Ratty and Kett where he worked on Westminster Abbey and Hampton Court. He found himself quite accomplished with the material, and obtained City and Guilds Craft certificates in stone masonry as well as winning the Worshipful Company of Masons Prize.

Underpinning Gregory’s work is a wicked sense of humour, always looking at his potential subjects with a mischievous glint in his eye. Gregory also has a deep interest in the macabre ­– since 2002, Gregory has worked extensively with bones and skulls, sourced from a scientific antiques dealer trading in skeletons once used in academic medicine. These pieces explore themes of life and death, exploring our collective anxieties around the topic as well as striking a more celebratory tone. Perhaps as a result of his early training, stone carving also features heavily in Gregory’s sculpture, although he has also developed ideas in bronze and other media.