Bob Campbell AKA 'Stig' (born 1963) is an English sculptor. He is best known for his furniture design and his use of redundant mechanical and industrial parts.
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Work
Campbell's work references the (often skeletal) forms of both humans and animals. His home and workshop are located in South Yorkshire, a region of England that was traditionally a centre for heavy engineering and steel production. The area experienced a dramatic decline in fortunes from the 1980s onwards and this is evident in both the forms and materials Campbell works with.
Throughout his career Campbell has retained a tight control of how his work is exhibited. Previous venues have ranged wildly from mainstream upmarket retailers in south east England to music festivals and a small private gallery attached to his workshop. Campbell is fiercely independent and his rejection of a conventional art sales model is a key part of who he is and why he has attracted the support of a moderately sized and dedicated group of private collectors across the UK. These people often find entirely disparate meanings within his work.
Life
Born the youngest of 2 children, Campbell grew up in relatively deprived area of Leeds, West Yorkshire. He left school early to pursue various solo entrepreneurial schemes including the large scale manufacture of counterfeit perfume. By his own admission, the late discovery of sculpture and furniture design has ensured that he avoided a lifestyle that might otherwise have been blighted by petty criminality. Campbell and his partner Carol-Anne Campbell (to whom he is not married) live together with their only child Joshua.