Kevin Francis Gray
Work inquiryAbout the artist
Kevin Francis Gray (b. 1972 in Armagh, Northern Ireland) lives and works in Canterbury and London, UK and Pietrasanta, Italy.
Gray’s compositions are entities in a state of becoming. Forms transition from figuration to abstraction, travelling on the verge of recognisable shapes, while never crossing into graspable representations. Leading the use of marble down new routes, the works do not align with conventional expectations of the stone or the direction its sculptors have often ventured. Shapes and characters rise from the dense rock matter and shine in their sinuous silhouettes and fluid surfaces, eclipsing the quintessential hardness and stillness of the block. The material retains the finger-marks and touches of the initial modelling process, illuminating the trajectory the artist’s hands have carved. Sometimes impetuous and vigorous, other times delicate and smooth, Gray’s gestures are sunken in the stone, bringing it back to life with a breath of contemporary creativity. This line of investigation is the driving force behind the works that challenges the viewer to think differently in an effort to create a future that differs from the past.
Works gravitate towards themes of mythology and metamorphosis, pivoting back to the artist’s provenance and heritage. The concept of transition is personified in the character of Ceridwen, a white witch and goddess of transformation, rebirth, and inspiration who brews life-altering potions that give the ability to shape-shift and inspire knowledge and beauty in others. Gray’s characters are heightened to celestial bodies and legendary warriors, such as Manannán and Oisín, orbiting from Celtic traditions to modern spirituality, with literal representations of the luminaries, the sun and the moon, distinguishable in the metal bases supporting Ceridwen standing and young god standing. Gray’s bodies are now young, sometimes anonymous divinities, and notably more elaborate configurations in these new transits. These figures present traits brimming with vulnerability and strength, anger and hope, dedication and combativeness. They champion the shifts purported by today’s youth. The viewer is in turn faced with this complexity, as they bear witness to the raw material and its sculptural transformation.
His work has been widely covered by international media including Wallstreet Journal, The Spaces, Artsy, ArtForum and SomeThingsMagazine.
Education
1995
NCAD National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland
1996
SAIC School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, US
1996
MA Fine Art, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
Selected solo exhibitions
2023
Momentary Monumentality, Rudolph Tegners Museum & Statuepark, Dronningmølle, DK
2022
Alon Segev, Tel Aviv, Israel
Eduardo Secci, curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto, Milan, IT
Andersen's Contemporary, curated by Sara Lysgaard, Copenhagen, DK
2021
Eduardo Secci, curated by Sergio Risaliti, Milan, IT
2020
Pace, 6 Burlington Gardens, London, UK
Museo Stefano Bardini, curated by Antonella Nesi, organised by mus.e in collaboration with Eduardo Secci (cat.), Florence, IT
2018
Andersen's Contemporary, Copenhagen, DK
2017
Villa Santo Sospir, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, FR
Pace, 537 West 24th Street, New York, US
Mid-career Retrospective, Armagh Market Place Arts Centre, Armagh, Northern Ireland
2014
Pace, 6 Burlington Gardens, London, UK
2011
Mendes Wood Gallery, São Paulo, BRA
2010
Galleria Changing Role - More Over Gallery, Rome, IT
2009
Personal, Galleria Changing Role - More Over Gallery off-site: Palazzo San Pasquale, curated by Martina Cavallarin, Venice, IT
2007
Goff + Rosenthal, Berlin, DE
2006
Ringsend, Galleria Changing Role – Move Over Gallery, Naples, IT
2005
Roebling Hall, New York, US
One in the Other, London, UK
2003
Galleria Changing Role – Move Over Gallery, Naples, IT2
2002
One in the Other, London, UK
Osterwalder’s Art Office, Hamburg, DE
2001
Kate, Tracy, Kim…, Habitat, London, UK
Tamsin, Lucy, Trish, Habitat, Cologne, DE
Selected group exhibitions
2023
ENDGAME, Eduardo Secci, Pietrasanta, IT
2022
Albion Fields, Albion Barn & Fields, Little Milton, UK
2021
Little Things, Pace, Quai des Bergues 15-17, Geneva, CH, 10 November – 04 December 2021 (Part I) and 10 December – 05 January 2022 (Part II)
2019
Sculpture in the City 9th Edition, London, UK
2018
On A Pedestal, curated by Mary Heffernan, Hélène Bremer, and Nuala Goodman, Castletown House, Celbridge, Ireland, 02 July – 01 September and & Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland, 08 September – 04 November 2018
Naked Truth: The Nude in Irish Art, curated by William Laffan, and Dawn Williams, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, Ireland
The Art of the Treasure Hunt 2018, curated by Kasia Redzisz, Fèlsina & Colle Bereto wineries, Chianti region, IT
The Revelation of the Head, Messums Wiltshire, Tisbury, UK
Shadowed Forms, curated by Kevin Francis Gray, Andersen’s Contemporary, Copenhagen, DK
2014
Love Story: The Anne and Wolfgang Titze Collection, curated by Severin Dünser, and Luisa Ziaja (cat.), 21er Haus and Winter Palace, Belvedere Museum, Vienna, AT
Résonance(s), Maison Particulière, Brussels, BE
2013
Contemporary Silence, Lisabird Contemporary, Vienna, AT
Artpark Villa Bulfon Skulpturenpark, Villa Bulfon, Velden am Wörthersee, AT
2012
The End, Jacob's Island Gallery, London, UK
2011
Roundabout: Face to Face, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel, 22 October 2011 – 29 April 2012 (touring)
Boundaries Obscured, Haunch of Venison, New York, US
Apocalypse Now, Nieuw Dakota, Amsterdam, NL
2010
Roundabout: Face to Face, City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand, 25 September 2010 – 16 January 2011 (touring to: Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel, 22 October 2011 – 29 April 2012) (cat.)
Emporte-moi / Sweep Me Off My Feet, curated by Nathalie de Blois, and Frank Lamy, MAC VAL Musée d'Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine, France, 07 May – 19 September 2010 (touring)
The Franks-Suss Collection, Phillips de Pury & Company at The Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2009
FRAGILE : Terres d’empathie, Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejoen, South Korea, 12 December 2009 – 21 March 2010 (touring)
Essential Experiences, curated by Lóránd Hegyi (cat.), Riso - Museo regionale d'Arte Contemporanea di Palermo, Palermo, Italy, 14 November 2009 – 02 May 2010
FRAGILE : Terres d’empathie, Accademia d'Ungheria, Palazzo Dei Falconieri, Rome, Italy, 29 September – 29 November 2009 (touring)
Emporte-moi / Sweep Me Off My Feet, Le Musée National des Beaux-Arts de Québec, Quebec City, Canada, 24 September – 13 December 2009, curated by Nathalie de Blois, and Frank Lamy (touring to: MAC VAL Musée d'Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine, France, 07 May – 19 September 2010)
New York: The Figure and Dr. Freud, Haunch of Venison, New York, US
FRAGILE : Terres d’empathie, MAMC Musée d'Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne métropole, Saint-Étienne, France, 16 May – 16 August 2009 (touring to: Palazzo Dei Falconieri, Rome, Italy, 29 September – 29 November 2009; Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, South Korea, 22 December 2009 – 21 March 2010)
2008
Grotto, Museum 52, London, UK
Et pendant ce temps, Nettie Horn Gallery, London, UK
Reconstruction #3, Artists’ Playground, curated by Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst, and Elliot McDonald, Phillips de Pury & Company at Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe, UK
Micro-Narratives: Tentation des petites réalités, MAMC Musée d'Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne métropole, Saint-Étienne, France, 07 May – 21 September 2008, curated by Lóránd Hegyi (cat.)
Gravity, Colección Ernesto Esposito, ARTIUM Centro-Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporáneo, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, 01 February – 18 May 2008, curated by Enrique Martínez (cat.)
2007
Micro-Narratives, 48th October Salon, Belgrade Cultural Center, Belgrade, Serbia, 29 September – 11 November 2007, curated by Lóránd Hegyi (cat.)
Out of Art dalla collezione di Ernesto Esposito, Centre PasquArt, Kunsthaus Centre D'art, Biel, Switzerland
2006
Inaugural Exhibition, Goff+Rosenthal, Berlin, Germany
iPod Killed the Radio Star, Showroom MAMA for Video and Media Art, Rotterdam, NL
2005
Napoli presente: Posizioni e prospettive dell'arte contemporanea, curated by Lóránd Hegyi, PAN Palazzo delle Arti Napoli,, Naples, IT
The Future Lasts a Long Time, curated by Chris Noraika, Le Consortium, Dijon, FR
Can't You Hear Me Knocking, Roebling Hall, New York, US
2004
Tea leaf, Cell Project Space, London, UK
2003
BAG LADY!, curated Richard Priestley, Cell Project Space, London, UK
Matchine Matchine, One In The Other off-site: 27 Spital Square, London, UK
From a Bag of Shit to Karma Kola, Osterwalder’s Art Office, Hamburg, DE
A Pillow For Dreaming, Rossana Chisilie, Turin, Milan, IT & Berlin, DE 20
2002
The 234th Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2002, RA Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
Summer in the City, Osterwalder’s Art Office, Hamburg, DE
May it Return in Spades, Bart Wells Institute, London, UK
One in the Other, London, UK
2001
Guardaroba: Liberi e Vestiti, Ex Monastero di Santa Scolastica, Bari, IT
The Poster Show, Hoxton Distillery, London, UK
Record Collection, VTO Gallery, London, UK, 28 April – 02 May 2001, curated by Elaine Ford, and Mel Brimfield (touring to: International 3 Gallery, Manchester, UK, and Forde espace d’art contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland)
2000
Harry Pye's Great British Art Show, curated by Harry Pye, Stark Gallery, London, UK
Heterogeneous Loves, curated by Craige Andrae, Experimental art Foundation, Adelaide, Australia
It May Be Rubbish But It’s British Rubbish (Harry Pye’s Great British Art Show), curated by Harry Pye, GLASSBOX, Paris, FR
Crylawn, The Caltech Outdoor Art Space, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, US
Photo15, Art Space NY, New York, US
Behind the Beginners, Harvard Gallery, Boston MA, US
Art Lab, Mobile Home, London, UK
1999
Exit: International Film and Video, Chisenhale Gallery, London, UK
Wed-Fri: 10:00 – 17:00
Sat: 11:00 – 15:00
Sun-Tue: Closed