Johnny Depp is taking his art from the canvas to the sculpture world with The Bunnyman, his first sculpture, set to be unveiled at the Contemporary Istanbul art fair in Turkey.
According to Deadline, the two-metre white-bronze sculpture will be presented from 22 to 27 September at Tersane Istanbul, the historic Ottoman shipyard on the Golden Horn. It will feature outdoors as part of the fair’s special projects.
Described as a “half-human, half-rabbit guardian carrying a ‘sword of truth’”, The Bunnyman has a deeply personal origin. The idea began with a drawing by Depp’s son Jack when he was around five years old. The image reminded Depp of a recurring dream he had as a child at roughly the same age.
The character later appeared in Depp’s sketches, paintings and prints before taking shape as a sculpture.
“When people see the painting I did — The Bunnyman — they always ask the same question: where did it come from?” Depp said. “Some character that Jack had scribbled, beautiful scribbles into that shape, that image, reminded me of a kind of recurrent dream that I had as a child, probably around Jack’s age, five, six…”
The sculpture came through a collaboration between the Sigg Art Foundation, Pantheon Art and Milan-based Fonderia Artistica Battaglia, where the bronze was cast.
The unveiling comes alongside Depp’s exhibition A Bunch of Stuff at the Modern Art Museum Shanghai. The exhibition features more than 200 of his artworks.
Depp is also in post-production on Ebenezer and Day Drinker.
