Award-winning sculptor Sean Henry is back in Woking for a major exhibition. Jane McGowan takes a look
Sean Henry is one of the new breed of sculptors whose works adorn public spaces, as well as traditional gallery settings. While his acclaimed sculpture of internet pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee stands proudly in the National Portrait Gallery, his Walking Man and Seated Figure can be found respectively in London’s Holland Park and at Castleton Rigg, near Whitby, high up on the North York Moors.
Now, the Woking-born artist is bringing his distinctive talents home for Face to Face: The Figurative Sculpture of Sean Henry – a major exhibition not only at The Lightbox, Woking’s stunning public gallery and museum, but right across the town itself. Expect to see figures at various key points, including Platform 1 of the railway station and in the middle of the Peacocks Centre.
“Someone once said: ‘Sculpture is the stuff you bump into when you’re trying to look at paintings,’” laughs the 51-year-old, who now lives with his wife and children in Hampshire. “I started making objects in clay when I was 14 or 15 and I haven’t stopped yet. There was perhaps a year when I tried other materials, while studying art at Farnham, but in my heart I always knew that I was a clay person through and through.
“Obviously I do make drawings and paint my figures, but for some reason I have always wanted to express myself artistically in three dimensions. Sculpture has the advantage on painting, I think, in that it occupies space in the same way that we do.”
That is certainly true of Henry’s own work. His figures, though often larger than humans – sometimes by as much as 20% – are eerily lifelike. Sculpted from anonymous models, they are dressed in contemporary, everyday clothes and placed in a variety of settings – some conventional, such as the Regent’s Canal at Paddington Basin, others not so, likeoff the coast of Newbiggin Bay in Northumbria.
Inevitably they draw a lot of attention, and Henry delights in witnessing the public response.
“It’s frequently very direct,” he tells me. “I think that’s because the figures are often just standing on the ground, looking back at the viewer. Actually, I was out watching people in Woking the other day, once the fourth and fifth sculptures had been installed. Ostensibly I was there to take photographs, but half the fun is seeing the reactions, both good and bad.”
After Farnham, Henry headed to Bristol, graduating in ceramic sculpture in 1987. His first solo exhibition came the following year, since when he has gone on to hold more than 30 solo shows. In 1998 he became the first sculptor to win the prestigious Villiers David Travel Award, a grant which enabled him to study and work on his art outside the UK. And it was while travelling on the proceeds of the prize that he first considered the idea of siting his work outdoors.
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ASH MILLS, Ash Mills
“Italy really opened my eyes to the power of placing sculpture in the public realm. There is a directness of communication that you don’t necessarily experience in an art gallery or museum.”
It is precisely this impact upon the viewer that is uppermost in Henry’s mind when it comes to tailoring his work to the setting. In contemplating Seated Figure for the North York Moors, he says, he thought long and hard about the colour of the grasses and heathers that would inevitably surround it.
“I didn’t want it to stand out,” he explains. “I wanted it almost to do the very opposite: to hide itself; to be a subdued presence. People can go and find him.”
Works of this scale and stature obviously require a great deal of dedication, with some taking “many, many months” to complete. Henry’s figures go through an average of six processes before he is able to paint them.
“I model the figures in clay – either hollow or on a steel armature – and then have a silicone mould made, either of a raw clay piece or a fired ceramic work. Usually it’s a professional mould maker who does that.
“Next I take the mould to a bronze foundry and use it to make a wax copy of the original work. This is handled in large part by the foundry, although I check the sculpture at each stage: wax/ceramic shell/bronze pieces/final welded and chased bronze/sandblasting.
“Eventually an unpatinated, finished bronze comes back to the studio, perhaps a few months later, and then finally I can start the painting, either in oils or in exterior paint. All in all, it’s actually quite a slow process.”
For the most part, Henry’s figures are anonymous. However, as connoisseurs of his work will no doubt have observed, one image seems to reappear in numerous pieces. Seated Figure, TBTF, Untitled, Standing Man: all bear a striking resemblance to the mysterious man.
“He is uniquely interesting – and, of course, he changes over time. Sculpture is always a failure at some level, so I go back and try to fail better. With this man, I have the memory of sculpting him before, which helps.”
In 2015, however, anonymity was temporarily shelved, as Henry was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to sculpt the so-called ‘father of the World Wide Web’, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, in celebration of the scientist’s 60th birthday.
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“I actually took a bit of persuading,” reveals Henry, “as I studiously avoid making portrait sculptures. In fact, I’ve only made three in the past 16 years, including this one. I much prefer my subjects to be anonymous.”
Nevertheless, the two-thirds lifesize bronze, which shows the inventor carrying the leather rucksack which he uses to transport his trusty laptop, was highly praised.
“Now I am very glad that I did it and feel proud to be in the NPG collection. Sculpture generally is quite under-represented there. I understand that they have only commissioned three sculptures in the past 20-odd years.”
So what does Henry look for when choosing a subject?
“I’m drawn to people who give back emotionally and reveal something from within, simply through their posture or their being.
“Some people seem able to wear their authenticity closer to the surface. I’ve met them in all sorts of situations, be they friends, individuals encountered by chance or people like John, the homeless man who inspired several of my Woking works.
“It’s always exciting to find people with that capacity. Often I’ll come back to the same person again and again, trying to get to the truth of it.”
As well as being shown throughout the UK, Henry’s works are frequently displayed at galleries in Germany, Belgium and New York, so the present exhibition – which also marks 10 years of The Lightbox – is something of a coup for the Woking venue.
“It’s an absolute first for us to have a show that not only fills The Lightbox, but also fills Woking,” says director Marilyn Scott. “As an exhibition it’s informative of what sculpture in the 21st centurycan do.”
For his part, Sean Henry seems genuinely excited to have his sculptures on view in the place where he grew up.
“I am so enjoying having them in Woking Town Centre, especially the figures on the platform and in the Peacocks. It really is a unique opportunity.
“I get involved in every aspect of the work: how it’s handled, installed, displayed, lit – all of it. I am very particular! And yes, I’ve been involved in the choice of location too – right down to the very last millimetre!”
- Face to Face: The Figurative Sculpture of Sean Henry will be on show at The Lightbox, Woking until November 5. For further information please visit: thelightbox.org.uk
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