Contemporary sculptor Kevin Francis Gray is one of the most talked about sculptors working today. He splits his time between London and Italy (he is originally from Ireland), where he sources the marble needed for his sculptures. He introduces visceral texture to what might have started as a classically figurative work, bridging it to something more abstract and textured. His works are elegant but flirt with being frightening. They have edge. He is a Page Gallery artist and has exhibited at Royal Academy in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Val-de-Marne in Paris, and Art Space in New York City and is widely collected around the world.
For more information on Kevin Francis Gray click here.

Exhibition view: Kevin Francis Gray at Museo Bardini

What is your favourite art space to visit? Somewhere you have been that had brought you joy.

A year ago, I was introduced to the Museo Stefano Bardini in Florence, and was absolutely astonished by this gem of a museum, which is what I now consider one of the best-kept secrets of a city where there are so many outstanding (and more famous) collections. I’ve had the honour of being invited to present an exhibition [nb – Kevin Francis Gray at Museo Bardini runs until December 21st, 2020] and as I got to know the history and the collection better, I gained every greater appreciation for what a maverick Stefano Bardini was. He truly had a modern, forward-thinking way of collecting and discovering art.

What have you seen in the past year which made you think you are looking at a new way of experiencing art? This can be an artwork, an exhibition, or a space.

Having this god-awful pandemic hit us this year and also trying to really consider my own personal footprint via traveling, I’ve not been going anywhere except my studio in London and infrequent travel to my studio in Tuscany. But a few years ago I had the opportunity to visit the spectacular but also quintessentially surreal sculpture park created by Gustav Vigeland in Oslo. It was a thoroughly memorable experience and to this day I’m not quite sure if I enjoyed it or found it equally disturbing. As an artist this is almost the perfect harmony of experiences. Yes, we all want to look at work that has the ability to transport us and bring us to the sublime but also work that challenges our opinions and preconceptions can often have a more profound impact on us.

Sculpture by Gustav Vigeland in the Vigeland Park, Oslo

What show, gallery, institution or museum have you visited that you thought was worth the travel?

A few years ago, I travelled to Denmark for a show in Copenhagen. I find it impossible to be there without stopping off at the Louisiana Museum. There is something tranquil and tender about this museum. It brings you in and guides you through its collection with a warm blanket on your knees but also sends Danish chills through your spine as you stand in awe of the work in its collection. Its physical location on the water, the obvious dedication to sculpture (the Giacometti room overlooking the lake remains iconic because of the sheer space given to the work)… It’s a place I look forward to returning to.

If time and budget were not an obstacle, where would you like to visit (or revisit) from the places listed on The Art Pilgrim?

It would without a doubt have to be Cretto di Burri, a truly magnificent and monumental piece of land art, created by Alberto Burri. What I love most about this work (or site) is that Burri passed away before the work was completed and also that it was apparently made on a shoe-string budget. The power and genuine artistic integrity of making a work like that and the unpaid help used to create it is so profoundly honourable. In a time where money and power are so toxically prevalent in art and culture, it is moving and almost romantic to be able to experience works like this where you can feel the blood, sweat and tears of the people who made it but also the memories of the people it honours.

In your opinion, which city, other than London, Berlin or New York, has a really interesting and exciting art scene?

It would have to be Dublin. This would be my rights-of-passage city; it’s where I developed a true connection to art and to this day it continues to challenge itself and produce great artists in all fields of creativity.

If the world were coming to an end, and there was space for only one museum collection on the spaceship, which collection would you nominate and why?

It would have to be the Uffizi Galleries in Florence. But then I’d speak directly to the official UFO hire companies and hire a few others in order to make away with all of the institutions and public art in Florence, overall. Florence is a city that I can’t live without.

Anything else you would like to add?

In a year marred by immense distress, I must say I currently feel a momentary sense of relief, like we can enjoy this temporary bright spot in a dark year. What a relief to see the election results and a new era with Biden/Harris in the White House. I have high hopes for the impact and freedom this will mean for all, including the arts. And of course, we’re not out of the proverbial Covid-woods yet, but I am looking forward to a new period of self-reflection, which now can include some renewed hope for the future.

In the more immediate future, I’m looking forward to installing my exhibition at Pace, in London [nb: the exhibition runs from 25 November 2020 to 13 February 2021]. It’s a show I’ve been developing for the past year or so, and it will present a brand new series called “The Breakdown Works”. They began as a really personal, introspective journey, but interestingly, with the way this year has gone, the overall themes seem to be applicable much more broadly.

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