Sculpture Source

Sculpturesite's Booth at LA Art Show

Can you really distinguish yourself when you are but one of 110 galleries in a show of over 15,000 works of art from a myriad of genres including painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography and video?  Is it possible to stand out in a crowd of an estimated 35,000 serious collectors and dedicated art enthusiast all buzzing around a 720,000 sq/ft convention center?  Sculpturesite Gallery answered those questions at the FADA LA Art Show with a resounding – yes, you can!

The event started inauspiciously with rain, rain and more rain.  On average, the sun shines on Los Angeles 338 days a year. Sunny Southern California did not, at first, live up to its promise.  However, while it tended to dampen a few heads and shoulders it could not dampen the enthusiasm of the thousands who attended.  And when the flood of water finally receded on Saturday, the flood of people arrived.  John Denning and Brigitte Micmacker, the owners of Sculpturesite, were more than ready to receive them.

Word spread quickly.  There was a booth near the food court, open at three sides, perfect for foot traffic, which was meticulously planned and presented.  It looked more like a gallery than a booth.  In conversational circles of attendees, Sculpturesite’s space was called “the best booth for sculpture,” and while there, you could see “the best works in the entire show.”  Said another attendee: “your booth is such a breath of fresh air – so lively and light.” It was obviously attracting attention.

“Dark Blue Rain-Curtain”, a massive, yet delicate cast glass piece by Mary Shaffer and “Summer”, a hyper-realistic swimmer resting on an inner-tube (both in meticulously painted resin) by Carole Feuerman were described by many as show stoppers.  The same could be said for the majestic Jeffery Laudenslager kinetic piece, “Hokusai.”  It had a prominent place in the middle of the food court -but will soon relocate to its new permanent home in Malibu.  The rest of the collection was wonderfully varied allowing something for everyone.  Jane Woolverton’s delicate recycled, plastic tapestries played off the monumental material and feel of Benjamin Brown’s steel and glass and Hans Van de Bovenkamp’s bronze.  Brad Howe’s playful mobiles stood in perfect contrast to the elegant pieces of Clement Meadmore.  These sculptures did speak for themselves but for those who wanted more, Mary Shaffer, Carole Feuerman, Jeffery Laudenslager, Brad Howe, Benjamin Brown and John Denning were all present to talk about their work.

All who attended had a memorable experience.  We at Sculpturesite greatly appreciate all who attended. If you would like more information on any of the works or artists you saw, please let us know. If you were unable to see the show, we will be glad to send more photos. And please stop by Sculpturesite Gallery.  Many of the pieces that we displayed at the LA Art Show are now currently on exhibition in San Francisco.  We will see you soon!

At A New Leaf Gallery and Sculpturesite Gallery, we represent more than a few women artists. While most of their work elicits admiration and appreciation, it is sometimes amusing, sometimes frustrating to notice the reactions to pieces by three of these women in particular.

Gale Hart and Lin Emery both create metal sculpture. Lin crafts exquisite kinetic creations of folded, finely welded aluminum. Gale works in reclaimed steel and stenciled automotive paint to turn out pieces with a more industrial bent.

Since both artists have gender-neutral names, visitors are often surprised to learn that these talented metalworkers are women. Comments ranging from, “But it’s so well-engineered, I thought the artist was a man,” to “Is she a big, brawny sort of gal?” have provoked a few (secretly) rolled eyes and playfully tactful comments along the lines of, “You know, sometimes we gals like to play with fire, too!” from our staff.

In contrast, Jane Burton’s large-scale ceramic work deals with the complex and often contradictory themes of womanhood. Sgraffito journal entries applied in oxides to elongated nudes with angel wings (Diva), metal halos (Aura) and golden removable breasts (DD: The Trophy Wife) embody each piece with a personal and very feminine spirit.

Reaction to Jane’s work usually falls along gender lines. Women typically love the pieces, as they communicate the experience of being a woman in a direct, universal language.

Men can be drawn to Jane’s sensual figures, but others show a neutral reaction to all but DD: The Trophy Wife. While women burst into peals of knowing laughter upon seeing the, uh…ample and perfectly shaped golden breasts dangling from a ribbon around the figure’s neck, men either guffaw self-consciously or re-focus everyone’s attention by commenting on an adjacent piece.

We would love to hear from you if you have experienced similar reactions to breaking traditional gender roles in the art world.

Here at A New Leaf Gallery, we find ourselves fortunate to be located at Cornerstone Sonoma. Chosen as one of the 100 Gardens to See Before You Die, Cornerstone features 22 installations created by renowned landscape designers. The gardens and the sculptures within them demonstrate the seamless integration of art and nature. Both owe their beauty to the elements and in some cases, to the wind in particular.

One especially intriguing garden is the work of San Francisco designer John Greenlee. Mediterranean Meadow consists entirely of undulating hills and valleys blanketed in tall grasses, native wildflowers and perennials. John conceptualized the garden as a nod to Sonoma’s traditional grasslands. Where grapevines now march acre upon acre across the rolling hills, cattle and sheep used to graze by the thousands.

Stepping into the meadow, a path paved with low grass winds in and out, up and down through waving stems of green and gray. The visitor’s pace slows as the whisper of grasses, a blinding blue sky, and tiny explosions of wildflower color mesmerize the senses. Birdsong pierces poignantly through the wind’s constant whistle and time slows to a crawl.

Suddenly, a glimpse of a dancing kinetic sculpture beckons. Around a bend in the path, Moto Ohtake’s Stellar Motion glints and spins above bobbing seed heads. Continuing down a dell and parting magenta stems alive with movement like ocean waves, Troy Pillow’s colorful Orion wind sculpture sails into view, planted firmly in the ground like the grasses surrounding it.

Voyaging further, the masts of Jeffery Laudenslager’s magnificent Hokusai (named in homage to Hiroshige’s wave woodblock print) rise and fall in a meditative spiral to complete the journey.

As the wind sculpts the hills and shapes the undulating movement of the meadow, it also works its magic on the kinetic sculptures punctuating the landscape in a delightful interplay of man-made and natural elements.

The mechanics of movement is another aspect of kinetic sculpture that is rigorously designed, and as much or more agonizing goes into crafting the movement of the piece as goes into the overall concept. The key here is “trial and error”, and sometimes a dozen different versions of the same piece are laboriously built and tested before a flawless design results.

Some artists shorten the trial-and-error phase by using SolidWorks, computer software used in mechanical engineering, to prototype how the center of gravity will shift as the sculptural members move in the wind.

Trial versions, whether virtual models or physical mock-ups, must also be constructed to test the lateral forces acting on the piece, and to simulate the effects of using different counter-balancing strategies. An intriguing piece that graphically demonstrates the concept of counter-balancing is “Rockette 1″ by John Tyler, which uses actual rocks to keep the flow steady and smooth.

How the pieces are connected is critical to the harmonious movement and proper functioning of a wind sculpture over time. Masters of this art (and science) include but are certainly not limited to Lin Emery, Moto Ohtake and Jeffery Laudenslager.

Joinery typically incorporates pivots, pendulums, rotors or gimbals depending on whether the intended movement at that joint will be in a two-dimensional (back and forth) or three-dimensional (up and down, around and around) plane. A “down and on the ground” movement is not an option here, so as one can imagine, a lot of time and effort is spent designing those movement joints.

The engineering of wind sculptures encompasses a final level of design complexity over static sculpture in that the piece is designed to be experienced dynamically over time. To complete each work, kinetic artists design the equivalent of several different sculptures so that all the various permutations that will occur over the dimension of time are captured. Computer animations and physical mock-ups illustrate how the different sculptural elements move in relation to one another, and provide a preview of the negative space and positive forms that will be created at any moment in time.

Sculpturesite Gallery in San Francisco and A New Leaf Gallery in Sonoma feature kinetic sculptures in various materials by artists who each approach the engineering, as well as the aesthetic design process, differently. Come compare and contrast, and learn more about these fascinating works of art!

Since I’m new here at the gallery, I spoke to a few artists who focus on wind sculptures to get a better idea of what they take into consideration when designing a piece. In addition to the overall artistic concept, I was curious to learn what attributes can enhance or detract from the beauty and stability of each work of art.

As with other forms of three-dimensional art, material choices are critical to a successful kinetic piece, and variables such as weight, bearing strength, cost and durability are key considerations.

Artists told me that using a heavy material such as stainless steel makes the sculpture more challenging to create and transport, but can add to its structural stability in high winds. Aluminum can be worked in thinner sheets, but because it isn’t as strong as steel, it may have difficulty supporting its own weight, or the weight of other modules of the structure.

Jeffery Laudenslager mentioned that titanium is only slightly heavier than aluminum and is stronger than stainless steel, so titanium kinetic sculptures can be made which are 50% lighter and stronger. However, the material cost is ten times more by weight due to the high price of the material. Tradeoffs, tradeoffs!

In terms of durability, stainless steel is suitable for all climates. In more humid areas or in areas near the ocean with salt in the air, annual treatment with a rust preventative is needed. Titanium is virtually immune to corrosion and holds up well in the elements, but again, there’s that issue of cost.

Plastic is another material which is sometimes used for kinetic sculpture. Due to its relatively light weight in comparison to metal, it’s most often seen in the suspended modules of indoor pieces so that the movement remains subtle. Tim Prentice is currently working with elegantly engineered and precisely balanced plastic forms that dance on the slightest of air currents.