Exhibition of the week: Michael Kenny: Spirit And Matter, Quest Gallery, Bath

 

Simon Tait
Thursday 10 May 2012 16:28 BST
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'Right Thinking', 1990, Michael Kenny
'Right Thinking', 1990, Michael Kenny

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On Michael Kenny's gravestone in Highgate Cemetery is the title of one of his sculptures, More Loved Than Known. The legend has been prophetic.

He has a passionate following among the thousands of students he taught, who include Antony Gormley and Damien Hirst, and though his pieces are in the Tate, the British Museum and the V&A, since Kenny died in 1999 there has not been an exhibition of his work.

This discreet retrospective (none of his monolithic stone pieces) is a reminder of how influential he was before his death at 58.

It is an exposition largely of his last decade's work, mostly through 60 large drawings. He believed in drawing as a start to a process in which he was examining form, human and geometric.

The works on paper explore how form and symbolism can work together to create a narrative. The exhibition is a timely reminder of a once vigorous voice in art that has been silent for too long.

(01225 444142; questgallery.co.uk) to 16 Jun

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