Please join us between 5:30pm and 8:30pm on 2nd October and meet Andrian and the gallery artists and enjoy his remarkable works over a glass of wine and discover more about is life and practice.

Andrian Melka is a British-Albanian figurative sculptor based in York (b.1972). He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana (1990-1994) during the student revolts that sparked the fall of communism at a time when the state still controlled artists as well as artistic creativity. Andrian was schooled in the socialist realist tradition and found inspiration in the rich heritage of classical and Renaissance sculpture.

Best known for his figurative work in marble and stone, and for his freestyle approach, Andrian’s skills were honed carving portraits and reliefs in a marble workshop in Albania. Working directly in stone, he uses a drawing of the frontal view of the figure as a template. Then, working by eye, carves his vision into the raw material in the same way his idol Michelangelo would have done 500 years ago.

In 1997, amidst the turmoil and disorder caused by the collapse of the government in Albania, Andrian sought refuge and moved to England with a prestigious Getty scholarship. He furthered his studies at the Building Crafts College in London where he was awarded the City & Guilds Silver Medal for Excellence and Freedom of the City of London.  Later, he moved to York to work as Head Sculptor for renowned carver Dick Reid, working on high-profile commissions including the Jubilee Fountain commemorating The Queen’s Golden Jubilee. 

Andrian’s list of prestigious clients includes HM King Charles III (his relief of Laocoon can be seen in The Royal Gardens at Highgrove) lords and well-known entrepreneurs. Andrian’s public work can also be seen at St Mungo’s Church in Glasgow, Bamburgh Castle War Memorial and the gardens of Chiswick House where he worked with English Heritage. His first over-life-sized bronze figure, of Captain Sir Tom Moore, was exhibited at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 2022 to great acclaim and now welcomes visitors to Leeds Chapel Allerton Hospital.