‘William'

As part of the public art commitment for The Whiteley, artist Kevin Francis Gray was commissioned to carve a bust of William Whiteley, from an existing block of Carrara marble, with his own recognised style, which finely balances between abstraction and figurative sculpture.
This striking sculpture serves as a homage to the person behind The Whiteley, William Whiteley, and his great vision for this area of London.

Gray’s unique depiction of William Whiteley is produced from a white marble block, sourced in Tuscany, and in particular from Cave Michelangelo where many masterpieces were born over time.

“The project is grand in scale and ambition and I would like the portrait to become a landmark where people can come and see a contemporary representation of a historic figure. The beauty of the work is to represent a reworking of not only the image of Whiteley himself, but also reflect the huge reworking of the famous building he created. It will be as much a homage to Whiteley as an aspiration to what the future brings and the beauty beholden in it.”

The artist’s techniques and modes of representation have varied, with Gray moving from figures in highly polished finishes to those with rough-hewn surfaces. Rather than working toward ideals of beauty or memorial, Gray attends to the psychological affects of his subjects, often relying on textural surfaces rather than facial or bodily postures to convey mental states.

Gray’s work is in major collections across the world, including Royal Academy, London, Museum ofContemporary Art of the Val de-Marne, Paris, Palazzo Arti Napoli, Naples, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel, and Art Space, New York.

“My intention was to realise a monumental portrait of William Whiteley, which scale echo’s the ambition of the founder as well as of the current redevelopment of The Whiteley.”

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