Evan Penny & Stephan Balkenhol: Figures in Flux
Evan Penny Self 2009
For more than 30 years, Toronto sculptor Evan Penny has been perfecting the photorealistic portrayal of the human figure. Now, Penny’s development may not have seemed so remarkable had he actually been a photographer. But instead, he’s a sculptor—one who transforms resin, silicone, hair and pigment into remarkably detailed profiles of human heads. Lately, for an extra challenge, he’s been flattening, stretching and distorting his portraits in a kind of 3-D Photoshop process run gloriously amuck.
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Evan Penny Shelley 2008 |
To June 20, Trépanier Baer pairs some of Penny’s newest works with those of Stephan Balkenhol, a German artist also known for his proficiency in figurative sculpture. It’s a bit of an unusual choice. Where Penny is smoothly precise, Balkenhol relishes woodchip-chunky gesture. What Penny makes explicit, Balkenhol plays loose. That’s not to say Balkenhol isn’t skilled in his own right; his wooden figures (and bronzes based on same) are accurate in terms of soul. And they, too, occasionally bend and stretch in a surreal fashion.
The resulting show promises not necessarily a study in opposites, but rather the sculptural version of a meeting—one that’s clearly face to face. (999 8 St SW, Calgary AB)
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Stephen Balkenhol Frau 2007 |
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