Kendall Koppe is delighted to present Pastoral X, an exhibition of new works by British sculptor Nick Evans. Condo London 2026 marks Evans' second solo project with the gallery. The exhibition is hosted by The Sunday Painter, London, and is presented alongside Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai
In Pastoral X, Evans presents a recent body of sculptures that appear to depict animals; rabbits, cats, owls. Yet the work's primary concern is not the representation of any specific creature, but rather the minimal conditions of figuration required to prompt recognition. The forms operate at a threshold where abstraction tips into legibility.
Evans describes this investigation as a kind of "sentimental formalism": a liminal space in which simple geometric elements are subtly inflected to invite emotional or narrative projection. The sculptures are developed through the manipulation of basic formal units, predominantly circles and ovals, drawing on visual languages widely familiar from cartoons, children's toys, and other foundational archetypes. Often, a minor intervention; ears, eyes, or a slight asymmetry, is sufficient to anchor the form within an interpretative framework.
What is ultimately at stake is less the ostensible animal subject than the viewer's own propensity to make sense. In a world marked by confusion and instability, these works invite viewers to confront their instinct to impose coherence, suggesting that meaning itself is provisional, fragile, and collaboratively produced.
Nick Evans (b. 1976, Mufulira) lives in Glasgow and works in Paisley, Scotland. Evans graduated from the Environmental Art course at The Glasgow School of Art in 2000, spending a year of this study at the Royal College of Fine Arts in Stockholm. In 2021 Evans gained his PhD from Northumbria University. He is a founding member of the Sculpture House Collective, Paisley.
