John Coll is one of Ireland's most prominent figurative sculptors. He has created many works of national importance including monuments to the poet Patrick Kavanagh and the writer Brendan Behan on the Dublin canals, a monument to Countess Markievicz in Rathcormac, Co. Sligo and a life-size portrait of the racehorse "Bobby-Jo" in Mountbellew, Co. Galway.

Recent works include a 3.5 metre bronze and stainless steel sculpture entitled "Ceilliuradh" in NUI Galway and the monument to the Galway footballer Enda Colleran in Moylough, Co. Galway.

Coll's first one-man exhibition was in The Kenny Gallery in 1985, and he has has several solo shows there since. He has featured in many group shows, most notably as a prize-winner in the Oireachtas. He has had a number of private commissions, including portraits of Benedict Kiely, Brendan O'hEithir and Francis Stuart and of Siobhán McKenna. He has two important commissions in Galway, in the City Hall and in The Galway Business School.

He has exhibited widely in Europe and held a one-man show in New York in 1998. His work is found in many collections including the Bank of Ireland Collection, The National Museum Collins Barracks, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, The National Library of Ireland Collection and Stanford University, California, USA.

"Art must do something more than give pleasure; it should relate to our own life so as to increase our energy of spirit".

Sir Kenneth Clarke

Mo léin! I'm 50. This 'carousel of time' must slow down!

The life-damage so far: Hair, gone; Eyesight?, Dodgy; Brain?, 33% function; Below the neck?, Don't ask!

But should this milestone become a millstone?

The function of a millstone (it can be a pain in the neck!) is to strip away the unnecessary and reveal the kernel, the goodness, and the best of what is put through it.

"The commonplace of life" as Patrick Kavanagh called it, is grist to the sculptors creative mill.

These "stoneground works'' are the fruits of what continue to excite me, our great literary and music traditions, our ever inspiring land and seascapes and all those who have touched my life in any way.

So in the words of Brendan Behan "Lets join in chorus for there's life before us, (when ye put yer true trust in drink!)"

John Coll, September 2007