Toronto
Art Gallery of Ontario
Evan Penny’s sculptures, while bringing to mind the work of Duane Hanson and Ron Mueck, are presented in ways that confuse the viewer’s understanding. Penny, who explores the space between the two-dimensional and human perception, is concerned with how images in the digital age are increasingly modified and moving further away from reality. His exploration was inspired by the 1998 exhibition “Artificial: Figuracions Contemporanies” at the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, which presented Thomas Ruff’s large-scale photographic portraits across from sculptural portraits by Stefan Hablutzel. Penny became interested in the play of real and replica and how these art forms reinforced, and diminished, each other’s authenticity. As visitors entered “Re Figured,” they were confronted with a sculpture and photograph, both titled Stretch #1 (2003). The distorted male faces created a funhouse-like experience. …see the entire review in the print version of June’s Sculpture magazine.
