Sean Henry

I came across Sean Henry's work purely incidently. At first, from a distance they look like real people but closer up you can see the detailing of the bronze. The sculptures took me by suprise because you usually see bronze, plastic, glass, stone etc sculptures but the fact that these are bronze and Henry has painted over them is really weird. If he is hiding the bronze, it makes me wonder why he could make them out of this material.

The location of these sculptures, for me, is vital. They mean so much more when they are placed. 'Standing Man (italia)' provokes more questions about who he is and what he is doing when he was relocated to Burton Place in London.




Henry revealed that it doesn't enter his head what people might think or take from the sculptures when he is making them. For him, it is all about what it does for him. There is something lifeless about the sculptures because they are slightly larger than the average human being. This makes casting rather more difficult for Henry. From a distance they look the same as a human being but as you get closer, it heightens the sense of reality when you realise how tall they are.



Some of the sculptures, such as 'Catafalque' have been moved around to various locations. The one from London doesn't work for me. It detracts from the meaning of the sculptures. I think that they work best in locations where you might find them, then you can ask why are they there, what are the doing. For this sculpture to be on a platform - it is quite obvious it is just there for show, to to intrigue peoples emotions. When it is in the grass, this is where it comes to life.




I think that it is a shame that this figures face doesn't have more emotion. If I was to change this sculpture, I would have more emphasis on how the eyes would squint in reaction to the brightness of the sun. Currently, this figure looks quite morbid.