John Henry

Chattanooga (Friday, July 25, 2008) – Award-winning sculptor John Henry, known throughout the world for his large-scale steel sculpture, unveiled today his plans for an unprecedented, seven-city exhibition throughout the state of Florida between October 2008 and May 2009, titled Drawing in Space: The Peninsula Project. Incorporating new works as well as some of his most recognized pieces, the multi-venue show brings together his colorful, monumental works in such a way that they conceptually interact with one another in a continuum, existing beyond their physicality with a conceptual presence.

In each of the exhibition’s participating cities – Boca Raton, Miami, Naples, Orlando, Sarasota, Tampa, and Tallahassee – a monumental sculpture will be placed at a public site, and a local art museum will host an accompanying, unique exhibit featuring a certain aspect of John Henry’s work and career.  These exhibits will encourage Florida visitors to travel the state as they explore the sculpture of John Henry.

“Each individual sculpture creates an after-image in the mind of the traveler moving from venue to venue, and serves as a beacon or lighthouse landmark,” Henry explained.  “Though standing alone, the pieces interact across distances and move between the past, present and future.”

Why Florida? Having lived and worked in South Florida for many years, Henry feels a strong personal affinity for the state. In addition, Florida’s peninsular shape presents a unique geographic environment of endless fascination for Henry, with its two coastlines on separate major bodies of water that offer the sunrise on the east coast and sunset on the west.

“This concept is an integral part of the objective of visualizing the separate sculptures as a unified work of art,” Henry said. “Each sculpture is part of a continuous sentence all referencing one another, each an individual part of a greater whole. In many regards, it may be seen to be all one work! It is very much about the process of working together to extend the influence of a particular part of a visual vocabulary.”

The exhibition will play an active role in educating the community and creating arts awareness throughout the state of Florida and beyond. Each participating museum will present educational opportunities, guided tours and workshops, and schools will be encouraged to implement lesson plans and arrange artistic and cultural field trips to participating cities and museums.

For more information about Drawing in Space: The Peninsula Project, or its sponsorship opportunities, contact Exhibition Project Director Arielle Biscayart at (305) 342-3779 or via email, arielle@johnhenrysculptor.com or visit www.PeninsulaProject.com.