A sculpture of a young man in casual dress holding and looking at a phone, Network (2012), will make its open-air premier at Yorkshire Sculpture Park as part of a solo exhibition by Tom Price (b. 1981).The piece is the largest work to date by the artist and will be accompanied by a solo exhibition of the artist’s sculpture, animation and work on paper at the Park’s Bothy Gallery from 4 January until 27 April.

Looking over the Park’s historic lakes and sculptures by Anthony Caro, Antony Gormley and Sol LeWitt, the 2.74m work references the audiences’ social relationships in a world where individuals are increasingly connected through remote means. In using bronze to depict composite portraits of “the man in the street”, Price knowingly challenges the material’s historic associations with authority and privilege.

The accompanying Bothy Gallery exhibition explores Price’s development of the male figure and fascination with the minutiae of body language and facial expression. Works include the nudes Orpheus Street (2008) and Ducie Street (2008) and stop-motion animations (Man 8) (2005) and (Man 9) (2005) –in which images of large clay heads blink silently from the gallery wall.

Inspired by public observation, magazine images and historic sculpture, Price – who was included in 10 Magazine’s Ten Sculptors You Should Meet and an invited artist at the Royal Academy Summer Show – is fast gaining a reputation for his consideration of identity and mastery of representing contemporary subjects with traditional techniques.

Tom Price, 4 January – 27 April, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, WF4 4LG.

Credits
1. Tom Price, Network, 2012. Courtesy the artist and Hales Gallery, London © the artist.