Born July 25, 1956 / Cheshire, England, U.K.

In an innovative career spanning five decades, Andy Goldsworthy has become one of the most prominent and iconic contemporary sculptors. Through sculptures, installations, photographs, and films, Goldsworthy documents his explorations of the effects of time, the relationship between humans and the land, and the beauty in loss and regeneration. Renowned for both his large-scale projects and ephemeral works, his practice examines our place in nature whether it be tumultuous or beautiful–or both.

Born in Cheshire, England, Goldsworthy's work on farms during his teenage years introduced him to the rhythms of agricultural practice, which remained with him. He studied at the Bradford College of Art before enrolling at Preston Polytechnic (now the University of Central Lancashire) in 1975. During this period, he spent much of his time creating work outside at nearby Morecambe Bay, where the natural environment became a profound influence on his artistic practice and his path to understanding the world. At art school, Goldsworthy began documenting his creations through photography, a practice he has continued throughout his career and still maintains today.

While exhibiting widely throughout the 1980s, Goldsworthy began incorporating permanent, site-specific works into his practice, enabling him to engage with individual projects over longer periods of time. Many of these works emerged from his exploration of the British landscape, particularly through his use of walls as both material and subject. His sustained investigation of wall construction highlights their ability to mark the passage of time, embody ideas of boundary and division, and negotiate the tension between permanence and transience. These concerns continued to shape much of his work which encompasses a wide range of forms, scales, materials, and settings–from rural environments to the centers of major cities. For Goldsworthy, art is nature.

In addition to several other projects, Goldsworthy is currently completing Hanging Stones in North Yorkshire, England. Described by the artist as "the most important work of my life," the project takes the form of a six-mile walking route between ten formerly derelict houses that have been rebuilt as artworks, together forming a single work. While Goldsworthy's catalogue of work firmly establishes him as one of the foremost land artists of our time, Hanging Stones comprehensively examines his decades of engagement with the land and his consideration of the past while remaining deeply engaged with the present and the future.

Goldsworthy's permanent works can be seen at institutions worldwide including the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, New York amongst many others. Major solo exhibitions of Goldsworthy's work have been presented by the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, England; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Spain; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Neuberger Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, California; and Des Moines Art Center, Illinois. His most recent museum exhibition–Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years–was held in 2025 at the Royal Scottish Academy and organized by the National Galleries of Scotland.

Goldsworthy is based in Scotland.