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!

Toxic paint fumes, heavy metals, and frequent trips to the landfill are some of the negatives that have historically come with the territory of creating art. However, “the times, they are a-changin.” A new breed of artist is emerging who is concerned with global warming while remaining committed to crafting fine art of the highest caliber.

A New Leaf Gallery is currently featuring two such vanguard artists’ works.

Gale Hart, a Sacramento-based artist who creates innovative functional sculpture influenced by contemporary graphic design, is passionate about making art that is kinder to the environment. This sensibility has permeated her work throughout her career.

“The opportunity for artists to be green is out there: what’s lacking is the commitment,” states Gale. “It’s too easy to be toxic.”

Gale uses 95% production remnants and scrap steel in her work because new steel fabrication is one of the world’s worst polluters: the extraction and production process destroys landscapes, pollutes waterways and blackens skies with toxic smoke.

Equally alarming, since most new steel is now produced in China, its “embodied energy cost,” or quantity of non-renewable resources used to create and ship the product to the United States, is one of the highest among the most commonly used fine sculpture materials.

To mitigate this negative environmental impact, Gale uses recycled steel sourced locally in Central California. She picks up a load at a time, traveling a distance of less than 100 miles and saving the 7000 miles required to ship new steel from Shandong Port in China to the Port of Oakland, CA.

Gale is in the process of completing the green picture by transitioning the finishes she uses on her work from spray paint and latex to water-based paints with an eco-friendly clear coat.

“It’s a constant struggle to be mindful and do without petroleum products, but it’s absolutely the right thing to do.” Gale says.

James Woessner is a Sausalito, CA-based artist with a completely different product but equal passion for environmental sustainability. By repurposing materials in new ways to create his whimsical, colorful figures, James starts with the three R’s of environmental consciousness (REduce, REuse, REcycle) and adds a fourth: REplace.

James’ new collection entitled “Floating Heads” utilizes found objects that wash up on the beachfront near his houseboat studio on the San Francisco Bay waterfront. His sculpture “Regina” is fabricated from a cast-off Regina floor sweeper, wooden kitchen spoon, tray handle, bamboo skewers, and rusty pieces of metal.

“Old Flattop” communicates a green message by using a men’s shoe heel as an ear and a fork as a nose, anchoring the whole arrangement with 400 copper nails gathered from the beach in  Sausalito. His “Aviso” makes clever re-use of a hammerhead, saw blades, and a gas cap.

James says, “True art is a response to the imagination, which can never be allowed to stagnate.” Like the ebb and flow of ocean currents in the Bay, or the steady movement from mindless waste to eco-consciousness in our society, James innovative approach to “worthless” materials keeps his work fresh and constantly innovative.

Please visit A New Leaf Gallery to view Gale Hart and James Woessner’s latest eco-friendly work.

Detail of "Grieving," by Jerry Ross Barrish

We participate in consumption – the satisfaction of wants resulting chiefly in destruction, deterioration, or transformation.  The objects we create experience consumption – the progressive wasting away of the body. It is an efficiently detached relationship.  Whatever emotional connection, if any, to our belongings we have, eventually they lose their hold on our attention and we consign them to landfills or the depths of the sea.  We have little time for empathy when ephemerality is the standard.  But some of these castaways are resilient.  They push against our enmity.  They resurface or wash ashore.

This is when Jerry Ross Barrish finds them and breaths life into the inanimate. This is not creation ex nihilo but creation ex vetus adveho novus – out of the old comes the new.  They combine and reconstitute into more than the sum of their plastic parts while still maintaining the markings and scars of their former life.  Bent, distorted industrial drainage tubes, series 73681-82000, become a subtle set of controposto hips and legs.  “Made in Mexico” containers transform into a hunched torso. The curve of a misused snorkel creates a cradling arm and hand.  A cratered and scuffed toy ball marked “Supper Tuff” is a makeshift, downcast, mournful head.  Refuse - discarded, unwanted, isolated – reconstitutes itself through anthropomorphic redemption.  But this is not all.  Barrish has one more act of transformation and transcendence.  As if in defiance for the once consumed, he has cast several of these assembled detritus into bronze.  Ephemerality is now corporealized.  Ironically, decay is permanently preserved. Long after the consumers themselves have passed away through consumption, those who were once the objects of consumption will live on.

Through this multi-layered transformation, Barrish requires a reconsideration of human empathy.  His objects of castaway materials take on the form and likeness of those who have discarded them.  But they are more than human in form.  They are also human in substance.  Feeling. Emotive. Empathetic.  Despite their lowly genesis, they have transcended their own fleeting material by communicating the very thing that was originally denied them.  They have the last laugh.  Yet, these do not seem to have the disposition of vengeful irony.  They remember their humble history.  They do not gloat.  They look back on us and give in the face of thoughtless waste.  They were treated apathetically yet they reveal what can be of highest nobility - emotion. Joy. Sorrow. Play. Contemplation. The desirable attributes of the consumer have been mastered by the consumed.  Roles have reversed.

Gallery Walk at Sculpturesite

Film crews navigate American suburban Qur’ans and rodeo Jesuses.

Experiential micro worlds of yesteryear and graphics of subversive counter-cultures.

Monstrous fairytales and political collage with the sounds of San Quentin Johnny Cash.

Painted photo snapshots and the marriage of steel and glass in sculpture.

Noise. Movement. Wine. Finger food.

No, this is not an attempt at bad Beat poetry.  That would be the wrong area of town.  It is not the echo of yesterday’s North Beach; it is the creative vibrancy of today’s SOMA - an energy nexus of contemporary conversations and visual cornucopias.  What does all this activity mean for an otherwise quiet Saturday afternoon?  It must be the semi-annual Yerba Buena Gallery Walk!

On Saturday, October 24, fourteen participating galleries opened their doors to hundreds of art aficionados and casual passers-by.  Each offered free admission, served light hors d’oeuvres and wine, had staff on-site to engage in dialogue, and showed an assortment of emerging and established artists.  It was a veritable art party encompassing four blocks of San Francisco’s SOMA district.  Participants who visited three or more galleries were eligible for a drawing with prizes.  The event culminated in a wine tasting sponsored by the Bay Area Wine Association.  The entire day was wonderfully successful and enjoyed by all.

If you missed the event, there will be others.  Look for our email in the coming months announcing the Spring Gallery Walk.  But don’t wait that long to get your art fix.  We will see you at Sculpturesite soon!

Sculpturesite Gallery

Brigitte Micmacker: Bella and JP, this is your first joint exhibition, although you have worked together for nine years and have even been called the “odd couple”. How did your relationship begin?

Bella Feldman: In 2000 I had a sequence of three exhibits in different parts of the country.  I needed more help than the assistant I had then, Chris French.  I asked a former student if she knew anybody and she sent JP my way. He was only hired on a temporary basis but, when I returned from a much needed vacation, Chris who had been with me for four or five years decided to leave and so JP fell into the job.  He turned out to be the best assistant I have ever had.

B.M.: Bella, when you began exhibiting as a sculptor thirty-five years ago, as well as when you established yourself in a long career as a professor, and as the chair of the sculpture department at a major art college, beginning in 1965 in a field then mostly entirely dominated by men, what did you have to do to be considered a respected professional, and not a “woman sculptor”?

Bella: I needed to be desperate enough for the job to endure the insults in the then all-male Sculpture Department. When the head of my department tried to get rid of me so he could give my job to a male protégé of his, I had to take the case to the then Board of Equalization which dealt with cases of discrimination.  I won. His successor managed to get rid of the entire department in order to hire his own.  I stood my ground tenaciously. When he resigned in a pique I became Chair.  But for 20 years I had to deal with the man’s hostility in as civilized a fashion as I could muster.  My endurance was fueled by the research which showed there wasn’t a woman teaching sculpture within a 100 mile radius of my home.  It was considered a male profession.  I continued to teach and to exhibit with considerable acclaim and that won me respect as a professional.

In 1996 I was awarded an exhibition at the Fresno Museum “California Woman Sculptor of the Year.”  My 8 year old granddaughter when she came to the opening looked at the sign and, without prompting, said “If it was a man artist, they wouldn’t have written ‘Man Artist of the Year.’”  I have received many honors and awards over time.  I am very, very good at what I do, but I believe a man with these honors, etc. would have fared better than I as a woman did.

B.M.: JP, you studied jewelry and metal art at the California College of Art and Crafts in Oakland (now CCA) where Bella taught for 35 years, yet you never took any classes from her. When you first walked into Bella’s studio to work as an assistant in 2000, do you remember what first struck you about Bella?

JP Long: I had long admired Bella’s work and jumped at the opportunity to work for her. What first struck me about Bella was that she was definitely from the East Coast. Strong, direct, and blatantly honest—which I respond to very well, having grown up in New England.

B.M.: (JP) How old were you? Were you looking for a mentor at that point?

JP: I was 21 when Bella hired me. As you mentioned before, I graduated with a degree in Jewelry/Metal Arts, which was excellent training. That department still believed in teaching technical skill. But I always wanted to go big. So when the opportunity to work for Bella arose, it was the perfect situation. All my life I’ve looked for mentors, and I’ve been fortunate in having had a number of wonderful teachers—most of whom were powerful women.

Bella Feldman, "Untitled"

(Interview Continued)

B.M.: Bella, For many years your sculptures have been both rooted in the love of material and craft and the playful, yet often dark interpretation of aspects of the human condition, creating what critic Harold Rosenberg called “anxious objects”. How do these images of objects come to you?

Bella: Regarding Anxious Objects.  I have lived through at least five wars that the U.S. has been engaged in.  As a child I listened to Hitler’s speeches, witnessing my parents’ dread and anxiety for their relatives (Polish Jews).  We seem now to be perpetually at war.  I am pessimistic about mankind’s future, but I diffuse my anxiety with “black” humor. These images arise from my subconscious which has been fueled by the times I’ve lived and continue to live in.

B.M.: (Bella) The juxtaposition of glass elements to the metal in more recent years, and now color, has given a bit more lightness, delicacy to your work. Does this correspond to a place in your life where making art has become smoother, less of a struggle?

Bella: Regarding the use of glass.  Lightness and delicacy is not new to my work.  For a number of years I worked with fiberglass and resin membranes which looked like they could float away despite their size.  I have always used tension as part of my sculpture vocabulary. I turned to using glass with metal because of the contrast and the vocabulary of tension set up using these materials in the same sculpture. The Sculpture Department of CCA is located right next to the Glass Department, so I developed a familiarity with the material.  I was told by the Glass Department that it wouldn’t work to blow glass into metal forms as I did in my Flask series and War Toy series, but I did and it worked and now a lot of people do it.

B.M.: (Bella) You now spend several months per year in Europe, where you have a very small studio space. How has this affected your art?

Bella: My partner lives in Europe and we go back and forth—neither of us willing to pull up stakes. I always have to do art and so I started to work in two dimensions in watercolor, pastel, and collage in a 9×9 foot room. You are what you do and now I am working in a 2D/3D mode in my Oakland studio of which you can see examples in this show.

B.M.: JP, you have participated in some of the decision making about Bella’s work, and have brought into the studio some ideas and techniques that she has integrated into her sculpture. At what point did you feel that Bella was interested in your input? Did this come naturally for both of you?

Bella: JP has contributed to the problem solving which is different from the decision making.  The decisions are mine.

JP: Bella usually says my suggestions were off the mark when I first started working for her—which I totally disagree with. There’s no question that I’ve learned an amazing amount from her. But it did take a couple months for her to start trusting my judgment.

B.M.: (JP) Did this make it easier or harder for you to begin finding your own way in sculpture?

JP: Easier. The hardest part of establishing a career in the arts, I think, is discipline. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and Bella gave me the opportunity to be constantly making art, three days a week for her and four days a week for me.

JP Long, "Impression 5"

(Interview continued)

B.M.: (JP) Did you also seek Bella’s input into your work?

JP: As I said before, Bella is an East Coaster. I don’t think it’s possible for her not to state her opinion. But yes, I would purposefully leave new pieces out for critique.

B.M.: Bella, you introduced JP to our gallery, as well as to other dealers. You were very persistent about mentoring JP. This is rather uncommon, as often masters develop feelings of jealousy when one of their protégés becomes successful. Was this ever an issue for you?

Bella: I have to admit I become uncomfortable when some of his work resembles mine too closely.  But jealousy, no.  He is a wonderful, bright, talented young man.  I am glad that is he doing well and I am gratified that I could help him on his way.

B.M.: How about you, JP?

JP: There’s a saying among musicians: there’s no new tune, just how you play it. Artworks are always embedded in a history, a context, and part of what makes art so rich is how it references the past while pointing toward the future—in other words, how a work of art occupies its “now” in the history of art. As I’ve heard Bella say time and again, quoting Picasso, “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.”

B.M.: Bella, what was your favorite aspect of teaching? What was most challenging?

Bella: The favorite part of my teaching was encountering interesting and talented young people and to be able to guide them where my own experience and knowledge could be of use.  I have very good critical and verbal skills and I was able to give easily understood, straightforward critiques of students’ work as well as recommendations for clearer ways of expressing their ideas.  Many teachers do not have that gift.  It helped being a born and bred New Yorker; it’s not the California style to be direct. The most challenging part of my teaching years was dealing with the sexist politics.

B.M.: Bella and JP, what do you think is most unusual about your relationship?

Bella: I think we’re unusually congenial despite the differences in our ages, gender, and life experiences.  Our thinking and temperaments are very similar.

B.M.: Bella and JP, how do you feel that this joint exhibition expresses this relationship?

Bella: This exhibition illustrates the crossover as well as the differentiation of ideas between us.

B.M.: Bella and JP, what other sculptors’ works do you admire most?

Bella: Sculptors I admire. Of contemporary sculptors, I would name Martin Puryear, Louise Bourgeois, Chillida, Max Ernst, Picasso, David Smith, Julio Gonzalez, and many more.

JP: I’m also a fan of Puryear, as well as the other artists Bella mentioned. But I would also add Dan Clayman, Sol Lewitt, Richard Serra, and Heiki Seppa.

B.M.: Thanks to both of you.

Peter Voulkos’ sculpture for the Hall of Justice was initially not well received.  After a cursory viewing, Alfred Frankenstein of the San Francisco Chronicle called it “unfavorable.” For him it gave the “impression of some big bronze worms wiggling on platforms.”  First impressions can be deceptive.  He returned to look again.  “Within about 14 seconds,” he writes, “all my reservations concerning it were swept away, and I came to the conclusion that it is just about the finest piece of public sculpture in San Francisco” (Frankenstein, Alfred V., “Voulkos’ Work: The Finest Piece of S.F. Sculpture.” San Francisco Chronicle, October 1, 1971, p. 61, ill).

In 1967, the Hall of Justice commission was the first of its kind awarded by the San Francisco Arts Commission.  The honor went jointly to Peter Voulkos and Sidney Gordin.  Voulkos’ piece was finished and installed four years later after extensive upgrades, improvements and alterations all at the artist’s expense.  The Hall of Justice piece is the pioneer of public sculpture in San Francisco.  Since its installation, over 500 public works have been commissioned and installed.  Thirty-eight years later the grandfather of San Francisco outdoor public sculpture is in desperate need of restoration.

The San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Art Dealers Association have joined forces in an effort to preserve this important piece of cultural patrimony.  In the coming months the two organizations plan to raise the funds necessary for restoration and continued preservation.  The estimated cost is between $25,000 and $35,000.  The organizations are now welcoming contributions.  When Alfred Frankenstein gave the sculpture a second viewing he noticed, “during the hour or more that I spent with this sculpture, many people walked by, but none, so far as I could see, paid it any attention at all.”  This caused him to marvel.  “They organize expeditions of the art-minded to go to Los Angeles and New York and Paris.  An expedition to the corner of Seventh and Bryant streets would be even more worthwhile” (ibid).  Let us not be guilty too of neglect.

If you would like to contribute by donating your time or money, please contact the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Development Director, Rachelle Axel at (415) 252-2564 or rachelle.axel@sfgov.org.  Sculpturesite Gallery is pleased to be involved in this important  effort to preserve our cultural heritage.

Curt Brill: "Julie", bronze sculpture

Bronze is a popular metal for cast metal indoor or outdoor sculptures. It is an alloy, or a metal created by the combination of other metals, with a minimum of 90% copper for quality bronze sculptures and statues in the United States. Some common bronze alloys expand slightly just before they set, making them desirable for intricate sculptures because they can fill the finest details of a mold. A chemical patina is applied to give the final finish and color to the bronze, and it is the patina that needs to be maintained, as the metal itself will last thousands of years.

Outdoor bronze sculptures hold up well and are easy to care for. A bronze sculpture is usually protected by a coat of wax, which is applied when the metal is still warm so it can seep into the pores and act as a barrier to air and humidity. This helps keep the bronze from oxidizing and keeps it looking new longer. An outdoor sculpture that has fallen victim to bird waste and other debris can be cleaned with a bucket of mild soap and water. Too much soap can leave a residue that can be difficult to rinse, so use just enough soap to create bubbles.  Steer clear of exotic oils and cleansers, as they can remove the patina and alter the look of the sculpture. An old toothbrush can be used to scrub dirt out of the sculpture’s nooks and crannies. Rinse the sculpture with clear water after cleaning, and then allow it to dry completely before applying a coat of clear paste wax (formulas that contain a high concentration of carnauba wax are best). Use a soft, lint-free rag to apply a light coat and let it dry to teh touch before buffing to the desired finish.  Do this on a warm, clear (but not too hot) day to allow the wax to dry before the next rainfall. Depending on the weather and the exposure, waxing is needed between once and three times a year. Don’t forget that indoor air also contains pollutants and humidity, so you will need to wax your indoor bronzes once avery two or three years.

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!