Evan Penny (born 1953, in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

) is a visual artist based in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Penny graduated from the Alberta College of Art and Design in 1978. He makes sculptures of human forms out of

silicone In Organosilicon chemistry, organosilicon and polymer chemistry, a silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer composed of repeating units of siloxane (, where R = Organyl group, organic group). They are typically colorless oils or elastomer, rubber ...

, pigment, hair and aluminium saying his interest "is to situate the sculptures perceptually between the way we might see each other in real time and space and the way we imagine our equivalent in a photographic representation." Though his creations are lifelike, Penny believes that "the real can't be represented or symbolized."

Early works

Penny’s early figurative sculptures were brought together in ''Absolutely Unreal'', a major survey of the artist’s work that traveled to th
Museum London in London, Ontario
the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta (2003–2006).

''No One - In Particular'' (2004–2007)

''No One – In Particular'' is a grouping of twice life-size sculptures that are imaginary portraits constructed to look like ordinary people but with larger parts of the body, accentuating the variability in the human form.

''Stretch'' / ''Anamorphs'' (2003–2008)

Penny’s ''Stretch'' and ''Anamorph'' sculptures stretch, blur and manipulate the human form in space. In works such as '' Stretch #1'' 2003, Penny’s traditional busts are vertically stretched elongating the head and shoulders. Penny’s ''Panagiota'' works visually chart a conversation Penny had with a young woman by rendering her facial expression at different points in their conversation.

''Backs'' (2004–2008)

Penny created a series of hyper-real sculptures of the backs of individuals.

Recent works

In 2011, Penny created his largest sculpture to date, ''Jim Revisited'', a 10 foot tall man with a commanding presence. As the model for this new sculpture Penny revisited his 1985 piece, ''Jim'', a diminutive 4/5 life-size sculpture positioned in a contrapposto stance.

Exhibitions

* 2011: ''Evan Penny. Re Figured'', Kunsthalle Tübingen, later on

Museum der Moderne Salzburg The Museum der Moderne Salzburg has two buildings at two different locations in Salzburg, Austria. The Rupertinum in the old town for new artistic concepts opened in 1983 and the Museum on the Mönchsberg for modern art in a contemporary setting op ...

and

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...

, Toronto * 2012–2013: ''Lifelike'', group show originated at the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

, traveling to the

New Orleans Museum of Art The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest art museum, fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans. It is situated within City Park (New Orleans), City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton ...

, the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, and Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas

Awards

* 1997 Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award from the Canada Council.

References

Bibliography

* * Alberto Fiz/Daniel Schreiber (Eds.): ''Evan Penny. Re Figured'', Buchhandlung König, Köln, Germany 2011

External links

evanpenny.com

Evan Penny artist-portrait by CastYourArt, 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penny, Evan South African sculptors South African contemporary artists Canadian contemporary artists Canadian sculptors South African people of British descent South African emigrants to Canada Living people 1953 births