Project Description
Sean Henry
Sean Henry (born in England, 1965) graduated in ceramic sculpture in Bristol in 1987 and had his first exhibition in London in 1988. His nearly (but never quite) life-size sculptures of human beings are more mundane than monumental. They’re expressive but expressionless, individuated yet general. They engage in activities no more strenuous or distinctive than walking or sleeping, thereby passively playing out the latest act in the drama of postwar art. Meanwhile, they invite – and even beg – myriad comparisons to the work of other artists, present and past. One by one these statues reveal a latent pathos in their faces and stances, and come to define the artist’s distinctive sensibility. Each piece takes on a personality of its own. In the great Western tradition, Henry emphasizes the reality of human emotion. He also clothes his figures in such a way that identifies their social class, drawing viewers into an awareness of their perception of who they are looking at.
Even so, the viewer thinks of seemingly infinite art-historical parallels and influences. Henry’s sculptures are reminiscent of Stephan Balkenhol’s rough-hewn figurines, as well as the waxwork people of Duane Hanson and George Segal’s obdurate ghosts. They also suggest a British sensibility such as that found in the fleshy, painterly realism of Leon Kossoff and Lucian Freud. The list goes on and on. But after a point, one might say, the more influences an artist evinces, the more original he or she actually is.
Henry’s public works include Walking Man in London’s Holland Park (2000), Man With Potential Selves in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (2003) and Walking Woman (2008) editions of which can be found in London, Oslo, Bad Homburg and Colchester, Essex (2017). He completed the UK’s first permanent offshore sculpture Couple in 2007, a critically acclaimed 13m high by 20m wide sculpture located 300 meters off the coast of Northumberland. More recent permanent installations include Standing Man in Stockholm (2010), Lying Man at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Michigan, USA (2011) and Seated Figure a 3 meter high sculpture located in the North York Moors National Park (2017).
Henry was the first sculptor to win the Villiers David Prize in 1998, and has had more than 30 solo shows during his career. His work is regularly exhibited by galleries in London, New York, Stockholm, Bad Homburg, and Brussels, and his sculptures can now be found in public collections in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Germany, USA and elsewhere. Career highlights include Conflux – a solo exhibition of 22 figures held in 2011 at Salisbury Cathedral, Wilthsire which was seen by more than 100,000 people during its four month run. In 2015 he was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in London to create a painted bronze sculpture of Sir Tim Berners Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web. Two books on Sean Henry’s work have been published by Scala Publishers, both written by Tom Flynn, the London-based art historian. He has been represented by the Osborne Samuel Gallery in London since 1999.
Frank, Peter. ARTNEWS Sean Henry Forum Los Angeles September, 2002.
seanhenry.com
Sean Henry Artwork
CV
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 “Last Man Standing” Osborne Samuel, 23 Dering Street, Mayfair, London W1
2019 Sean Henry Sculpture/Drawings, Galleri Andersson Sandstrom, Stockholm, Sweden
2017 Face to Face: The Figurative Art of Sean Henry, The Lightbox Museum & Gallery, Woking UK
2016 Time Being: Osborne Samuel Gallery, Mayfair, London
Das Geprüfte Leben / The Examined Life: Kulturzentrum Englische Kirche, Bad Homburg, Germany
Das Geprüfte Leben / The Examined Life: Galerie Scheffel, Bad Homburg, Germany
Here and Now: LKFF Art & Sculpture Projects, Brussels, Belgium
2015 Sean Henry: Forum Gallery, New York, US
Hessenpark Museum, Bliackachsen 10, Nue-Anspach, Germany
Saalburg Museum, Blickachsen 10, Bad Homburg, Germany
2014 Sean Henry, Galerie Andersson Sandstrom, Stockholm, Sweden
Sleeper: LKFF Art & Sculpture Projects, Brussels, Belgium
2013 Sean Henry: Glyndebourne Opera House, Sussex, England
2012 The Way It Is: Osborne Samuel Gallery, London
2011 Conflux: A Union of the Sacred and the Anonymous, Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, UK
2010 Sean Henry Sculpture, Forum Gallery, New York, US
Sean Henry Sculpture, Galleri Andersson Sandström, Stockholm, Sweden
2008 New Sculpture and Drawing, Osborne Samuel Gallery, Mayfair, London
2007 Presence: Galleri Andersson Sandström, Umea, Sweden
Presence: Galerie Von Braunbehrens, Munich, Germany
2006 You’re Not The Same, Forum Gallery, New York and Los Angeles
Sean Henry: Sculpture, Cartwright Hall, Bradford, UK
2005 Sculpture and Drawings, Kunsthandel Frans Jacobs, Amsterdam, Holland
2004 Sculpture in the Workplace, Canary Wharf, London
Sculpture at Goodwood, Sussex
Here and Now, Berkeley Square Gallery, London
2003 Lower Grainger Street, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
2002 Sculpture & Drawings, Forum Gallery, New York and Los Angeles
2001 Sculpture & Drawings, Berkeley Square Gallery, London
1999 A Pilgrimage, Davies & Tooth, London , UK (Villiers David Prize Exhibition)
1998 The Centre of the Universe Circolo Degli Artisti, Faenza, Italy.
1997 Up Against it Air Gallery, London.
1995 New Sculpture and Drawings John Natsoulas Gallery, California, USA.
1994 The Flip-side of Dominic Hyde Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
1988 Inner Visions 2,Michaelson & Orient Gallery, London.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 BODY + Soul, Canary Wharf, London, August 25th – October 7th
2018 Revelation of the Head: Messums Gallery, Wiltshire, UK
Gallery Artists, Osborne Samuel Gallery, Mayfair, London
2017 Viva Scultura Viva! Galleri Andersson Sandström, Stockholm, Sweden
(Three person show with Maria Miesenberger and Jaume Plensa)
2016 Human: Messums Gallery, Wiltshire, UK
Visionary Artists of the 21st Century, Forum Gallery, New York
15/140: Galleri Andersson Sandström, Umea, Sweden
2015 In Kleinen Format, Galerie Scheffel, Bad Homburg, Germany
2014 Committed to Paper: Master Drawings and Prints by Sculptors, Frederik Meijer Sculpture Park, USA
Ladies First: Galerie Von Braunbehrens, Munich, Germany
2013 In Kleinen Format, Galerie Scheffel, Bad Homburg, Germany
Heavy Metal and Stones, Galleri Andersson Sandström, Umea, Sweden
BLICKACHSEN 9, Galerie Scheffel, Bad Homburg, Germany
Summer Salon Show, Rarity Gallery, Mykonos, Greece
2012 Presence, LKFF Art & Sculpture Projects, Brussels, Belgium
Interesting Times, University of Leicester, Harold Martin Botanic Garden, Leicester, UK
2010 Eigse 30 Year Visual Arts Retrospective, Carlow Town, Ireland
Liminality, Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, UK
Summer Exhibition, Osborne Samuel Gallery, Mayfair, London
Modern Paintings, Drawing and Sculpture, Forum Gallery, New York, US
2009 British Sculpture, Osborne Samuel Gallery, London
2008 Internationella Skulpturfestival, Boras, Sweden
2007 Gates of Multiplicity, Regent’s Park, London, England
2006 Galleri Andersson Sandström, Umea, Sweden
Umedalen Skulpturepark, Umea, Sweden
2005 Golden Square, London
Sculpture, Soloman Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Eigse Festival, Carlow Ireland
2004 Canary Wharf, London
Le Meridien Cumberland Hotel, Marble Arch, London
Durham Sculpture Show
2002 Paddington Central Development. London
River and Rowing Museum, Henley-On-Thames, Oxfordshire
‘Thinking Big’ Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice (Sept 2002- Feb 2003)
‘About Face’, Croydon Clocktower Museum, UK (Oct 2002 – Jan 2003)
2001 Salon de Mars, Geneva, Switzerland (Berkeley Square Gallery)
2000 Classicismi Metropolitani, Rome, Italy Art Miami Florida, USA (with Berkeley Square Gallery)
1999 Artists of Fame and Promise Beaux Arts, Bath, UK.
Group Show Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, USA.
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS & INSTALLATIONS:
Arizona State University Museum, Arizona, USA
Borås University, Borås, Sweden
Bad Homburg City Collection, Germany
Cass Sculpture Foundation, Goodwood, England
Colchester City Collection, Essex, England
David Ross Foundation, Leicestershire, England
De Montford University, Leicester, England
Eschborn City Collection, Germany
Holland Park, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, London, England
ING Bank, Amsterdam, Holland
Le Meridien Cumberland Hotel, London, England
National Portrait Gallery, London, England
Newcastle City Collection, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England
Paddington Central, London, England
River and Rowing Museum, Henley-On-Thames, Oxfordshire, England
Royal British Legion, Pall Mall, London, England
Scheringa Museum of Realist Art, Spanbroekerweg, Holland
Seven Bridges Collection, Greenwich, Connecticut, USA
Standard Chartered Bank, London, England
Stockholm City Collection, Stockholm, Sweden
Tower Records Collection, Sacremento, California, USA
The Hills, Queenstown, New Zealand
Umea City Collection, Umea, Sweden
University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, VA, USA