An evening with Giles Penny RWA

Bath Society of Artists event – please see below for admission details and ticket prices

Born in 1962, Giles Penny divides his time between sculpture, painting and printmaking. Penny’s work can be seen in many public spaces including Golden Square, London; Canary wharf, London; Fulham Reach, London; and Bruton, Somerset.

Giles trained at The Heatherly School of Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art, Bournemouth & Poole College of Art and Newport College of Art. His focus is on the human character, which he captures through his keen and sensitive observation of simple gestures.

His work provokes an understanding of the moment, the mood, or a shared emotion. When I asked Penny who are the people he sculpts and paints, his immediate response was: “They are all me”. A great reply. They do capture the moment, because he manages to encapsulate the gesture, the pose, the feeling and the expression all in one. So, one could describe his sculptures not as the figurative ‘self-portrait’, but more aptly as ‘self-expression’. This is doubly interesting, as the humour that is so often conveyed through his sculpture is also very much the humour that you will experience talking with the sculptor himself. One can recognise the sculptor and the sculpted as one and the same personality. Walking around Giles Penny’s studio and being shown his work, I discussed whether he finds it difficult to be perpetually creative, to which he assured me that ideas come naturally and fast for him. He has previously commented on what inspires him to be so productive. “I don’t like being limited to just one medium; I work on several pieces at once until something is complete. I am driven by the feeling that my next piece of work will be my finest, but when I reflect on my work over the past forty years, I’ve found it’s the idea in conjunction with the making that completes the experience.”

Admission on the door: £5.00 cash for non-Bath Society of Arts members / BSA Members free