Kevin Francis Gray

I think I have fallen in love, again. This artist/sculptor baffles me on so many levels but I shall let the work speak for itself, for now...

This is by far my favourite, and it is easy to see how you can take both fashion and art inspiration from Gray's work. Obviously the people in the sculptures are wearing clothes, but it is the detail and fluidity of the draped fabric which really inspires me. The beautiful forms, lines and realistic impressions the metal/marble creates astounds me - I have an unhealthy desire to run my fingers down the groves and crevices of the cold bronze.

Ghost boy, 2007, fibreglass resin and glass beads.

Ghost Girl, 2007, marble and glass beads.

People often say that art is what you see in it, and I can't decide what I believe is behind these works. Gray takes his inspiration from the street and sub-cultures of today's youth, which is apparent in the dress style and poses. Even though this is the case, I consider the pieces to have a sense of lost identity, not only apparent in the name 'ghost girl/boy' but in the almost shy poses, and the covering of their faces. Is Gray trying to suggest that by subconsciously becoming part of this 'inner city folklore', you lose your individual identity and become a clone of that particular subculture?

WOUND magazine, issue 3, refers to historical sculpture when discussing Kevin Francis Gray, suggesting not that he is trying to preserve these trends in street culture in history, but '...open[ing] up the discussion.'

'In his works, which often echo the composition and style of various traditional sculpture languages, he places the grubby and unwashed from our own times into the positions in which we normally expect to see goddesses, heroes or the saintly. We might find it amusing or visually witty conceit. But, if we reflect on it more closely, we might also be prompted to ask questions about the nature of the object sculpture itself, not only about its aesthetic and formal qualities, but more specifically how these have - for centuries - lent themselves well to acting as a kind of visual propaganda, to taking the stuff of daily life and transforming it into serving particular values and ideologies.'

His works have recently been shown in both Berlin and New York, courtesy of Goff & Rosenthal.