Adam Hugh Charles Reynolds, Sculptor. Born in London 22 October 1959

Founder and manager, Adam Gallery 1984-97

Trustee, Shape 1986-2005, Chair 1990-97

Married 1992 Isabelle King (two daughters)

Died Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire 11 August 2005

A sculptor, curator, teacher, arts advisor, husband and father to two children. Adam was active in the Disability Arts sector and served for many years on the Board of Shape as Chair and later as a trustee. He was a generous in his support for other artists, and Shape's Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary is offered in the same spirit as that which guided the Adam Gallery that he ran for many years.

Adam showed his work regularly from 1983 with many exhibitions throughout the 1980s and 1990s whilst developing the Adam Gallery. The Adam Gallery ran from 1984 to 1997 in an old cobbler's shop in south London, providing a space for artists with serious intent to extend their personal creativity in a supportive environment.

Adam worked with many different materials including lead, copper, steel and glass. His work moved from predominantly figurative pieces in the 1980s (eg. his gargoyle figures) towards more abstract, geometric and larger scale work in the 1990s and beyond, like the public commissions for Scope's Midlands Office, Boscombe Day Centre near Bournemouth and Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey.

A common thread throughout his work was his desire to "express apparent contradictions and to help others enjoy the contradictory nature of the universe". He did this most obviously, for example, in his lead series, which included a lead balloon and kite.

Adam said "I am clear that my greatest strengths stem from the fact of being born with muscular dystrophy, apparently my greatest weakness". He always favoured using scrap materials and found objects - picked up from the street or dug out of the ground - making his viewers reconsider the value and beauty of overlooked and rejected 'stuff'. He explained this tendency as being "founded on my lifelong experience of disability and the desire to challenge the commonplace assumption that this renders life all but useless and without value".

For more information about Adam and his work, please see:

• Adam's CV
• Obituary by Sir Nicholas Serota in the Guardian
• Obituary by Rob Kesseler in the Independent

To find out more about the Bursary and its aims, please contact [email protected] or call our office on 0207 424 7330.