Sculptor working in a variety of materials, and teacher. He was born in Samoa and studied at Hornsey College of Art and Royal College of Art, in 1967 working for a short time with Henry Moore. Taught at Goldsmith’s College School of Art, 1971–88. Worked in New York on several occasions. Was a prizewinner in Tolly Cobbold Exhibition in 1981. Wentworth employed an element of Surrealism in his work, which had a witty undercurrent and an interest in language and meaning. Ready-made objects were sometimes adapted. Wentworth took part in group exhibitions in London and the provinces, including The Sculpture Show at Hayward Gallery, 1983, showing one-man with Lisson Gallery. Saatchi Collection, Tate Gallery and Arts Council hold his work, which was included in its 1993–4 touring show Recent British Sculpture.
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A major retrospective was held at Serpentine Gallery in 1994. The Wentworth-curated show Thinking Aloud toured from Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, 1998–9. In 2000–1, Wentworth exhibited a large sculpture in the cathedral, Winchester, responding to the building’s fabric. In 2002, his project An Area of Outstanding Unnatural Beauty, sited in the premises of General Plumbing Supplies, took the topography, inhabitants and history of King’s Cross as its subject. Tate Liverpool gave him a show in 2005, including new work made especially for it. The exhibition exemplified Wentworth’s peculiar ability to assemble objects in thought-provoking ways, exploring how the viewer engages with and transforms what is there. Wentworth was interested in how materials create shapes, patterns and meanings. Interviewed, he said: “A city is just lots of piled up stones, but the shape of one pile is called a cathedral, another a lock-keeper’s cottage.” Lived in London.
Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)
