A native of England, Sean Henry (b. 1965) made the decision to create sculpture at the age of eighteen after becoming inspired by the artwork he saw while visiting Florence, Italy.
The theme of Henry’s sculpture is the tension between the making and staging of figures that seem to belong to the real world, and the degree to which they echo our experiences and sympathies.
Sean Henry’s sculptures are individually painted by the artist using oil paint on the bronze surface. Each sculpture is like a three-dimensional painting, and the technique makes it possible for Henry to infuse his works with personality and character. Henry’s figures, like those of Albert Giacometti, are frozen in time, as if poised and about to move. But unlike Giacometti or any modern sculptor, Henry’s oil painting technique gives a sense of personal immediacy and depth of emotion to every figure.
Henry has been exhibited widely throughout the United States and Europe. Over the years he has shown at the Royal Festival Hall, London, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England, The Society of Sculptors, London, England, Glasgow Art Fair, Scotland, Salisbury Cathedral, UK, Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney, Australia, and Art Miami, Art Chicago, The Armory Show, The Art Show and at art fairs in Los Angeles, Dallas and the Hamptons in the U.S.
Henry’s work is in many international collections including National Portrait Gallery, London, Sculpture at Goodwood, England; City Centre, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne; Frisia Museum, Spanbroek, Netherlands; University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville; Paddington Central, London; Le Meridien Cumberland Hotel, Marble Arch, London; Golden Square, Soho, London, the Ekebergparken sculpture park in Oslo, Norway, the city of Stockholm, Newbiggen Bay in the UK and the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI.
Sean Henry was most recently celebrated at the National Portrait Gallery in London where his commissioned portrait of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web was first presented to the public.