From April 3 to May 10, 2025, PİLEVNELİ is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in Istanbul by Irish artist Kevin Francis Gray. Showcasing a compelling selection of his work, the presentation celebrates abstraction, figuration, and portraiture through dynamic sculptural compositions, tracing the evolution of Gray’s artistic language in recent years.
Renowned contemporary sculptor Kevin Francis Gray reinterprets the historical legacy of Italian marble through a contemporary lens, merging classical modelling, casting, and carving techniques with a deeply expressive, handcrafted approach. By transcending the inherent hardness and stillness of marble, he transforms the material into fluid and emotive compositions. Spanning two floors, the exhibition features works from his Family and Gestural Works Series, alongside Fragile Heads Series, a new body of work inspired by Gray’s recent travels in Turkey.
All the works in the exhibition are shaped by the integrity and delicate balance of their composition. The interaction between solid forms and voids, along with the simultaneity of angles and perspectives, creates a dynamic structure that unfolds and reveals itself as viewers encircle it - like a spatial accordion, expanding and contracting. In its entirety, the exhibition offers a profound meditation on transformation - of material, of form, and of the human condition itself. Rooted in centuries-old sculptural traditions yet boldly contemporary, Gray’s practice continues to carve new paths within the language of sculpture, prompting reflection on the impermanence of the physical and the enduring resonance of human connection.
