Holly Hendry
Holly Hendry’s site-responsive sculptures and installations are concerned with what lives beneath the surface, from hidden underground spaces to the interior workings of the body. Casting is central to the artist’s process in which she uses an array of materials, including steel, glass, Jesmonite, silicone, ash, lipstick, soap, foam, marble, aluminium and grit.
Hendry’s allusion to the skin as the visible ‘container’ of the body is combined with cartoon-like illustrations of anatomy, food and detritus. The artist’s projects often directly reference scientific research. Through collaboration with scientists and by conducting her own experimentation, Hendry engages with subjects such as material re-use and how the skin functions as both a barrier and a material that facilitates connection.
The artist’s first solo show in the USA opened at SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia in February 2024. Also in February, a new commission was installed at Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre in London for the group exhibition, ‘When Forms Come Alive’. A public work commissioned by theCoLAB was installed at the Artist’s Garden, Temple, London in July 2023. Other recent public sculptures include ‘Lip-sync’, STEAMhouse, Birmingham, commissioned by Eastside Projects in partnership with Birmingham City University (2023) and ‘Sump’, Esch2022 European Capital of Culture, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg (2022).
An exhibition of new works and a large-scale outdoor commission by the artist opened at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea in May 2021. Hendry had a solo exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield titled ‘The Dump is Full of Images’ in September 2019. Her installation ‘Deep Soil Thrombosis’ was included in the Biennale de Lyon 2019 in France. In 2018, Hendry was chosen by Helen Pheby, Head of Curatorial Programme at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Selfridges, as the inaugural artist for the co-curated Art Block in Selfridges’ flagship store in London. The artist created the monumental sculpture ‘Cenotaph’ for the Liverpool Biennial in the same year. The work was included in the Biennial’s touring programme and shown at The Tetley, Leeds, in June 2019.
Hendry was born in 1990 in London, where she continues to live and work. She gained her BA Fine Art at The Slade School of Fine Art (2013) and her MA Sculpture at the Royal College of Art (2016) in London.
Stephen Friedman Gallery will present a solo presentation by Hendry for Frieze New York (2024). Other notable solo projects include ‘Fatty Acids’, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London (2022); ‘GUM SOULS’, Frutta, Rome, Italy (2018); ‘For a Skeleton to Hang Soft Tissue On’, Arratia Beer, Berlin, Germany (2017); ‘The Box’, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London (2017); ‘Wrot’, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2017) and Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (2014). Her work was also included in ‘Breaking the Mould: Sculpture by Women since 1945’, an Arts Council touring exhibition which opened at Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield in 2021. Other group exhibitions include ‘Subversive Tenderness’, FRAC, Centre-Val de Loire, Orléans, France (2022); ‘Beano: The Art of Breaking Rules’, Somerset House, London (2021) and ‘Female Objectivity: A Perspective of the Marval Collection’, Castello di Villanterio, Lombardy, Italy (2021).
Her work can be found in significant public collections including the Arts Council, British Council and Government Art Collections, UK and FRAC Grand Large, Dunkirk, France.