Kevin Francis Gray is known for works in marble which flex the boundaries of figuration and abstraction. Offering a convincing argument for the continued significance of traditional media in the contemporary world, Gray presents figures and forms in transition and in various states of becoming. In each of Gray’s works an acute vitality is captured in that residue of the artist’s hand is left permanent in stone; sheets of white Carrara marble framed in burnt umber Sapele wood incorporate the lines of human shapes through the negative space carved into the stone.
Part of a growing body of work that the artist started in 2018, the marble panels originate from Gray’s life-drawing sketches in ink, watercolours and pastel. The artist isolates lines and angles from the drawings and transitions them to the page of marble, which seems to have been sculpted only with fingers. The human form is abstracted beyond recognition. The result is a wall sculpture that appears delicate but draws the viewer into its texture: the marble is unmistakable and the skill of releasing a work so subtle from the stone is a testament to Gray’s commitment to his material.
Kevin Gray was born in 1972 in Armagh. Work by Gray has been included in exhibitions at institutions such as the Royal Academy, London; Museum of Contemporary Art of the Val de-Marne, Paris; Museo d’art Moderne, Saint-Etienne, and Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv. Recent solo exhibitions have been held across the UK, Italy, France, Denmark, the US and Israel, and Gray’s work is held in collections in both the UK and US. Educated at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, and Goldsmiths, London, Francis Gray lives and works in London, UK, and Pietrasanta, Italy.
