Sean HENRY

he theme of Henry’s sculpture is the tension between the making and staging of figures that seem to belong to the real world, and the degree to which they echo our experiences and sympathies.

Sean Henry’s sculptures are individually painted by the artist using oil and other paints on the bronze or ceramic surface.
Henry has become adept at the manipulation of scale and almost always avoids life-sized representation. He explores the narrative capabilities of sculpture through a variety of strategies; by using more than one figure; by the economical use of contemporary iconography; and by a masterful ability to suggest psychological presence. His figurative sculptures are self-contained, often pensive, preoccupied by their inner imaginings. They exude what the ancient Greeks used to call sophrosyne, or self-control. This sense of being grounded is central to Henry’s figures and creates their strong physical presence, their sense of being and enduring. He has an ability to pare down his objective material and conceptualize the essential inner self whilst combining this with his consummate skill as a sculptor and painter and his understanding of form and mass. His first solo show was in London in 1988 and he has since gone on to exhibit his work widely in both solo and group exhibitions throughout the UK, USA, Sweden, Germany, Holland, Italy, Australia, Greece and Switzerland at some of the most prestigious galleries.

Past projects range in scale from Couple – the UK’s first permanent offshore sculpture – a critically acclaimed large scale, 13m high, 18m wide bronze and steel sculpture installed off the North East coast of England in Northumberland, to an indoor installation of nine sculptures at the new premises of Standard Chartered Bank in the City of London. Other notable works include the three figured Man With Potential Selves, located in the centre of Newcastle Upon Tyne and at the Cumberland Hotel, Marble Arch, London, Melancholia an intimate 10cm deep relief sculpture and John (Standing) a 31″ high depiction of a homeless man that the artist met in London.

In 2008 Scala Publishers published the first comprehensive monograph on Henry’s work, written by the art historian Tom Flynn, which was followed in 2011 by Scala’s publication of Conflux to mark the artists biggest exhibition to date at England’s Salisbury Cathedral, which attracted over 100,000 visitors during its run, a record for the Cathedral.
Sean Henry lives and works in the UK; he is married and has three children.