Wednesday, November 27, 2013

BEAUTY: Sculpture--Kevin Francis Gray

I have always marveled at the way Classical and Renaissance artists managed to make sculptures of marble look like folds of soft fabric and Irish-born/London-dwelling sculptor Kevin Francis Gray is carrying on this skill in his eerie, ethereal figures draped with jersey or diaphanous silk. And all are made from marble, bronze, or resin. Wow.

His work is on display at the Pace Gallery in London, now through January 18, 2014.


Top to bottom: Temporal Sitter; Ballerina Bust; Ballerina; Kids On A Tomb overhead view; Kids On A Tomb side view; male bust

Most interesting is the collaboration Gray worked on with Disney Studios for the film "Snow White and the Huntsman" which I reviewed here. At the time, I was unaware of Gray's work but the "Mirror Man" did stand out for me as a highlight in the film. The images for the film are based on Gray's piece Face Off, seen in the images below, which consists of two figures, draped in fabric. Gray paired them facing each other at the entrance to one of his gallery shows. In an interview with The Observer, he said, "I made this sculpture to be put at the entrance so that as you walked into a gallery, you walked through these guardians of the gate... They’re standing with their arms crossed and they’ve got that kind of attitude-y young pose, you know what I mean? That arrogant cocky pose. You see it all the time... You walk through the door to the gallery and you get this bad vibe even as you just walk into the show."


And then below, the "Mirror Man" as he appeared in "Snow White and the Huntsman" with Charlize Theron.


http://kevinfrancisgray.com

No comments: