Barry Flanagan was born in Prestatyn, North Wales in 1941. He studied at Birmingham College of Art and Crafts (1957-1958) before going on to St. Martin's School of Art in London in 1964. Flanagan graduated in 1966 and went on to teach at St. Martin's School of Art and the Central School of Arts and Crafts (1967-1971). Flanagan represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1982. A major retrospective of his work was held at the Fundación 'La Caixa' Madrid in 1993, touring to the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes in 1994. Flanagan's bronze hares have also been exhibited in many outdoor spaces, most notably on Park Avenue in New York in 1995-6 and at Grant Park, Chicago in 1996. In 1999, he had a solo exhibition at Galerie Xavier Hufkens in Brussels followed by an exhibition at the Tate Gallery, Liverpool (2000). In 2002, a major exhibition of his work was shown at the Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Germany, and toured to the Musee d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain, Nice.