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Thursday, April 25, 2013
KRK Ryden Book Signing for Double Talk
Friday, April 12, 2013
Varnish Owners/Directors Jen Rogers & Kerri Stephens Chat with Genea Barnes of Broken.me
Genea Barnes of the blog, Broken.me stopped by Varnish to talk to Jen and Kerri about their thoughts on the San Francisco art scene and running a contemporary art gallery in the City by the Bay.
Chatting with Jen Rogers & Kerri Stephens of Varnish Fine Art (San Francisco)
Broken.me: What is your background in the art world, and what brought you to
opening Varnish Fine Art?
Kerri Stephens: I didn’t go to art school, I just went
to a (state) university. They had a good art program. Right after school I went to
work in a bronze foundry in Santa Fe, New Mexico. And, it ended up being a
bronze foundry here in Berkeley where Jen and I met. We were doing sculpture,
and meeting a ton of amazing sculptors, some big-time sculptors. We did
work for Peter Voulkos, Nathan Oliveira, (Stephen) de Staebler, and all those guys. We kinda' got sick of working for five bucks an hour, and decided:
since we knew all these great artists-- pretty much everyone that worked at the
foundry were amazing craftsmen and were really good artists in their own right-- lets open up a gallery so that we can show some sculpture and show all our
friends' work and all this great stuff, and have it be a place that’s not
stuffy, a little bit more inviting, and a place where people can come hang out.
We had this idea of a salon style venue; where people could come and meet
the artists, and hang out and talk about art and stuff. That was our big vision
at the beginning. When we opened our first space, we had big concrete floors...
Jen Rogers: We showed a lot of sculptors partly because of our background working at a bronze art foundry.
BM: Why is it important for you to bring art to the public?
JR: We
were seeing not so many places showing the kind of artwork that we like, so we figured hey, we’re just always going to show what we like. We
still do, and people love it, so it worked. It was a gamble at first because a
lot of the galleries that we went to, we weren’t really digging it. And yet, we
were working at the foundry, and hanging out with all of our art friends and
seeing incredible artwork produced all the time. It just wasn’t in galleries.
KS: And our kind of M.O. (in curating) is (showing) stuff that we like, art that is really provocative, and a little edgy, stuff that makes people think about art a
little bit more, not just stuff that people can hang on their parent's walls;
stuff that we feel was and is important socially, and politically. We really try to
stick to our guns about showing that kind of artwork.
BM: Why did you leave the old location?
JR: It
was torn down… Because the bulldozer knocked it over. It was a huge eminent domain fight... we put
everything into that building (the original gallery space) to open Varnish and then 5 weeks after we
opened we heard the city wanted to knock the building down. We had seismically
retro-fitted it and made this beautiful gorgeous space. It was a historic
building, too. So yeah... that’s gone. We left there and we were pretty
pissed about it. We had this kind of make-shift wrecking ball sculpture (in the gallery) and right before we left, we all took turns pushing it around and kind
of smashing the walls inside. Not to do too much damage, but it was super fun
to do that--let off a little steam--and then we went off and licked our wounds.
And then we found this space (at 16 Jessie St.) It worked out in the end. But for a year and a
half we were dealing art from just a little office in the Hobart Building.
Which worked for a while but was super lonely. We didn’t have a showroom, we
had a file folder. And we had Layla working in there. It’s great to be landed
here, and this is a great space.
BM: What have been the significant changes from that space to this
space, as far as clientele, momentum, accessibility?
JR: It’s
pretty huge actually. At the old location we had a wine bar. It was a nice
little adjunct to the gallery and the inception of our name (Varnish) from "varnishing day," the
night that people would varnish their paintings and drink wine with their
friends--that’s where the opening reception came from-- and we had wine all the
time, so we said “Varnish.” Having the wine bar was great, but it did divide
our time somewhat. So we have really been able to focus (on dealing art only) in the almost two
years that we’ve been open here, and also the year and a half that we were
dealing art in the Hobart building. We’ve been able to really refine
everything that we do with the gallery, and now we also sell publications, here
and online,
we have a lot of books. That’s been great. This spot here is smaller, but we’ve
been more mobile. We’ve done a lot of art fairs. We’re also talking to a lot of
other art dealers, on the East Coast and here, showing some of the artists that
we represent now, exclusively, and setting up shows for them. We also recently started a pop-up in Oakland with Chuck Sperry and
his screen-printing shop. That’s pretty fun.
BM: Besides what you have already talked about, what
do you look for in the art you exhibit and the artists that you represent?
JR: A
few things. There has to be a high degree of craftsmanship in whatever the
medium is and there also has to be a real dedication to being a professional
artist. Because it’s hard-ass work and people that approach it as a hobby, it
doesn’t really respect your craft, so we tend to shy away from that. I’ve joined the board for Visual Aid and
that’s a really cool non-profit that’s been around for 24 years, it’ll be 25
years next year. It’s kind of a safety net for artists that have life
threatening illness. That’s kind of a big thing that I’ve been doing that
Kerri’s been helping out a lot with too; trying to help out that organizations
because it’s one of the few that’s there for artists that may not have any
resources, and most don’t. It’s one of the few that I’ve heard about in the
world. It’s pretty cool.
BM: How would you describe the art community in
San Francisco and how do you feel it is different than in other cities?
KS: Well, I think there’s a few different
communities in the city. It seems like every time you’re talking about "the art
scene" you’ve got the old school, the middle school, and the new school coming
in. I think in San Francisco, there’s still a lot of really big control by the old-school art community. You’ve got the old ceramicists movement from the 60′s and
70′s, they’re still big and strong here. You’ve got the big 49 Geary galleries
that are still showing a lot of that kind of work, and the SFMoMA that’s still
pretty conceptual in its ideas of what kind of art they’re bringing in and
what kind of art they’re looking for the new SECA awards, and then you have what we’re showing. We show a lot of mid career artists, we’re not so much showing emerging artists
anymore, but artists that are established a little bit and are really working
it. I think, because that’s what we are mostly doing, that I know more about (that community) I
think that community is really strong. I think there’s a lot of support for
each other. It seems like the artist community here is like "this guy’s having
a show, that guy’s having a show" (promoting each other)… everyone kinda' supports each other, really strongly.
I also think Oakland… a lot of artists have since moved to Oakland since it’s
so expensive here (SF), that the scene in Oakland is huge, super supportive and
really vibrant and exciting. There’s a lot of really exciting sculpture,
intense sculpture, different fire-art type stuff and all kinds of different new
sculpture that’s happening out there. I think that really adds to the vibrancy.
It comes over to San Francisco a little bit, however over there it’s just super
exciting. It’s just a bunch of new art coming in that makes the Bay Area a
really exciting place for artists.
BM: How do you feel that that is different than
other big cities, LA, New York? Do you feel like it’s different, or do you feel
they have a similar thing going on?
KS: Well, I don’t know too much. It seems
like it’s a little bit tougher here, and everybody sticks together a little
more, it seems like the artists support each other a lot here. I don’t know so
much about LA and New York, if they are so supportive of each other.
JR: I know for the galleries, we’ve got
some very supportive art dealer friends here, New York, and all over the
country. I feel like our East Coast friends really appreciate talking to us
because we’re just so real about everything. It’s nice to just really be real.
It’s a different kind of industry. The kind of meetings that we have-- I laugh
sometimes because I think if this was a board meeting at some huge corporation,
the same feelings would be going on in the room, but nobody would say anything
about it. It’s just super nice. We’re in the business of making people happy,
and some people get that, and some people don’t. It just depends on where
people's heads are at, if they’re an artist or a dealer.
BM: Is there anything else you would like to add
about Varnish, or San Francisco, or art life?
JR: I think a lot of people think that it’s
easy to be doing what we’re doing. I think that part of our job is to make look
easy, and I think that goes for the artist too. They make it look easy because
they are so good at it. It’s tough. It’s hard. Most of the time it’s completely
wonderful, but when people assume that everyone’s just sort of hanging out and
smoking pot in their studio, it pisses off an artist. If they assume the same
thing about us, (that we're) just sitting there examining our glittering diamonds, it
couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s just funny, once people get it and
understand, then it’s the happy place to go. It’s tough to get across to a lot
of people in a lot of places in America, especially that nobody’s going to slap
you across the face for not knowing who an artist is when you walk into a
gallery. So for ten years we’ve been trying to get everyone to understand not
to be scared. I wear jeans every day here, I don’t think there’s anything wrong
with that. I’ll dress up for an event, but its not like walking into a bank.
KS: I think that’s the hard part about
America, it’s sort of our job to remind everyone how important art is, and how
we all need it in our lives.
****
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Host Events at Varnish Fine Art
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Friday, April 5, 2013
The Varnish Emporium: April Special Edition
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Saturday, January 5, 2013
An Interview with Peter Schifrin: Artist, Poet, Olympian.
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| "Wings 1" (2012) Bronze |
Famously, when Picasso was asked, ‘How long did it take to make that drawing?’ he responded, ‘My whole life.’ It’s a tongue-in-cheek answer but it’s also true. It’s taken my whole life. I was blessed that both my mother and my father were artists so I guess I got nature and nurture. I was also encouraged by a wonderful high school art teacher/artist, Robert Chavern (A shout out to all those encouraging K-12 teachers) - He affirmed me as an artist and nominated me for a (Los Angeles) citywide prize, even though I felt very undeserving. He helped me, when I was struggling at centering clay on the wheel and gave me some sculpture pointers: How to model a nose and an eye. I was immediately hooked. I never looked back. I was probably 15 years old and I knew at that moment I would be a sculptor. But even as a small kid I loved papier-mâché - I made my own cartoony puppets - I just never thought of it as sculpting.
Your father was a painter and for over a decade you were a professional athlete--a fencer. What sort of impact did these formative life-experiences have on your work? Are there any other life-experiences that have informed the ideas you imbue in your sculptures?
Certainly, these experiences are formative, it transforms you spiritually. Also being a father myself, a husband, a teacher, a friend – it all goes into the delicious stew called art making. The artist, Maya Lin says what she loves about art is that ‘…one day you wake up and everything you have ever done and everything you’ve ever known - can enter into your art.’ I understand that.
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| "Wings 2" (2012) Bronze Edition of 8 |
My experience in athletics as an Olympian informed my practice of ritual, discipline, pursuit of excellence, risk-taking and personal expression. Athletes and artists have a lot in common, often not spoken of. We both perform acts that have never been done before. We study from masters. We invent new moves and we practice traditional craft. We use both passion and intuition. But most importantly, we all need to ‘show up - fully’ and perform. I love finding principles in many disciplines, be it, writing, acting, music or the visual arts, as well as athletics.
Having a father who was a professional artist, gave me permission to follow that path. I saw his strengths and weaknesses, as he struggled to support a family and stay true to making good work. Personally, I wanted to be more balanced. He was all consumed by art, at the sacrifice of his family on some levels. Art making is only a part of my life. It is a critical and essential part – but love, relationships, health and family is as important to me as making a sculpture. Can’t have one without the other. Practicing being human is an art in itself.
We all look back and are inspired by those who have preceded us. I’m interested in Egyptian and ancient arts – even to the visceral mark making of the cave painters – really any indigenous people throughout the world. I am in pursuit of one thing always: a vitality. The work must have a sense of aliveness. So, I allow the mark making and the process to show. I embrace my imperfection and am not interested in perfecting form – rather the opposite is true. I like ‘wabi-sabi’, the Japanese idea of ‘perfect-imperfection’. Flaws and asymmetry are exciting, visually and aesthetically, as it reveals our humanity, our realness, as we are all stunningly beautiful and flawed, at the same time.
I do love soft clay and how we can model it quickly and intuitively - and how it holds the most intimate gesture or fingerprint. I also love working wax and translating that into bronze. There is an alchemy, when loosely modeled clay is transformed into hardened, almost eternal bronze. It’s magic.
Having a father who was a professional artist, gave me permission to follow that path. I saw his strengths and weaknesses, as he struggled to support a family and stay true to making good work. Personally, I wanted to be more balanced. He was all consumed by art, at the sacrifice of his family on some levels. Art making is only a part of my life. It is a critical and essential part – but love, relationships, health and family is as important to me as making a sculpture. Can’t have one without the other. Practicing being human is an art in itself.
“Athletes and artists have a lot in common... We both perform acts that have never been done before. We study from masters. We invent new moves and we practice traditional craft. We use both passion and intuition. But most importantly, we all need to “show up” fully and perform.”What is your sculptural/creative process? You work primarily in metal, but also in clay (ceramic). Even when you work in metal, there is an feeling of the “hand built”. Does that influence hearken back to the art of Early Civilizations or... ?
We all look back and are inspired by those who have preceded us. I’m interested in Egyptian and ancient arts – even to the visceral mark making of the cave painters – really any indigenous people throughout the world. I am in pursuit of one thing always: a vitality. The work must have a sense of aliveness. So, I allow the mark making and the process to show. I embrace my imperfection and am not interested in perfecting form – rather the opposite is true. I like ‘wabi-sabi’, the Japanese idea of ‘perfect-imperfection’. Flaws and asymmetry are exciting, visually and aesthetically, as it reveals our humanity, our realness, as we are all stunningly beautiful and flawed, at the same time.
I do love soft clay and how we can model it quickly and intuitively - and how it holds the most intimate gesture or fingerprint. I also love working wax and translating that into bronze. There is an alchemy, when loosely modeled clay is transformed into hardened, almost eternal bronze. It’s magic.
The use symbols/symbology is extremely strong and prevalent in all of your work. Where does that stem from? You've mention creating a visual “tool” to help you in your fencing that transferred to life and now to your art...
Well it’s all symbols, isn’t it? I mean, visual artists live in the world of symbols. But the tool, ‘all that I know’, the series of 24 colored symbols or ‘life principles’ I created ‘to remember how to be’ – does permeate my artwork, because it permeates my life. As artists, we spend our lives trying to get what we believe, to be more closely aligned with what we create. Our beliefs can be imbued into what we make. As I’m so aware that life is brief and precious, I am concerned with what I leave behind. When my work is successful, I hope it can be a visual reminder or a celebration of human endeavor and spirit.
Specifically, I created the 24 ‘life principles’ while training for and competing in the 1984 Olympics. We athletes needed to perform under extreme pressure in extreme time constraints. But really, isn’t that just like all of our lives, everyday? Maybe we don’t call it the ‘Olympics’, but life is intense! And we all know that, under stress, even the most basic heartfelt wisdom can fly out the window. Right? So, I developed a tool designed to help me ‘remember’ what was important – Symbols based in color and simple form - Reminding me how to perform, how to live, despite the pressure. I quickly discovered that many of the same athletic concepts were true in art making and in life.
Here’s one example: One triad of my knowing contains the words ‘center, trust, risk’. Perhaps this seems obvious, but to really act from your spiritual or physical ‘center’, to remain balanced, especially when the shit is hitting the fan, is very tough. Few are able to do it consistently. It’s something great masters in all disciplines have worked on for centuries. To be yourself when all are trying to make you someone else – it’s hard. Then to ‘trust’ in your own knowing and your own wisdom - to trust in the (art) process -- to trust in your abilities, or in the universe - this can be tough, too. Finally, as artists, as humans, we must ‘risk’, we must jump and commit ourselves to action – That is the way, the only way to make anything worthwhile – or to see what we are capable of. We must risk failure. Failure is scary, especially for experts. We hate to fail, right? But it is essential for growth.
Anyway, that is one example of some of the lessons I experienced as an athlete that I translate into my art and life. I continue practicing these daily. The ‘Wings’ and ‘Silver Linings’ series has grown out of this practice.
Well it’s all symbols, isn’t it? I mean, visual artists live in the world of symbols. But the tool, ‘all that I know’, the series of 24 colored symbols or ‘life principles’ I created ‘to remember how to be’ – does permeate my artwork, because it permeates my life. As artists, we spend our lives trying to get what we believe, to be more closely aligned with what we create. Our beliefs can be imbued into what we make. As I’m so aware that life is brief and precious, I am concerned with what I leave behind. When my work is successful, I hope it can be a visual reminder or a celebration of human endeavor and spirit.
Specifically, I created the 24 ‘life principles’ while training for and competing in the 1984 Olympics. We athletes needed to perform under extreme pressure in extreme time constraints. But really, isn’t that just like all of our lives, everyday? Maybe we don’t call it the ‘Olympics’, but life is intense! And we all know that, under stress, even the most basic heartfelt wisdom can fly out the window. Right? So, I developed a tool designed to help me ‘remember’ what was important – Symbols based in color and simple form - Reminding me how to perform, how to live, despite the pressure. I quickly discovered that many of the same athletic concepts were true in art making and in life.
Here’s one example: One triad of my knowing contains the words ‘center, trust, risk’. Perhaps this seems obvious, but to really act from your spiritual or physical ‘center’, to remain balanced, especially when the shit is hitting the fan, is very tough. Few are able to do it consistently. It’s something great masters in all disciplines have worked on for centuries. To be yourself when all are trying to make you someone else – it’s hard. Then to ‘trust’ in your own knowing and your own wisdom - to trust in the (art) process -- to trust in your abilities, or in the universe - this can be tough, too. Finally, as artists, as humans, we must ‘risk’, we must jump and commit ourselves to action – That is the way, the only way to make anything worthwhile – or to see what we are capable of. We must risk failure. Failure is scary, especially for experts. We hate to fail, right? But it is essential for growth.
Anyway, that is one example of some of the lessons I experienced as an athlete that I translate into my art and life. I continue practicing these daily. The ‘Wings’ and ‘Silver Linings’ series has grown out of this practice.
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| "Group 3" (2012) Bronze |
Much of your artwork is done in series; the objects stand alone, but seem to be a part of a greater whole. Is it intentional?
Funny. Anything worth doing, is worth doing again, right? Artists repeat or experiment, not unlike scientists. All art is an experiment and artists try to get it right with a little tweak again and again. We practice our craft by repeating good ideas or methods and renewing them. Exploring them. Sometimes we get it right. Then we try again a little differently.
Additionally, in my studio, I work on several pieces at once. I’ve always liked a ‘family or a community’ of forms. If I am going to begin one new piece, I almost always begin three or six new ones. During my working process, they all speak to one anther visually. I often move from one work to the other. No one work can solve all the challenges you have, and so a series or body of work allows this exploration.
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| "Group 1" (2012) Bronze |
Your pieces are extremely layered. They have multiple components that coalesce to create a greater message. How important are these individual layers to you and how important is it that the complete message is revealed? (ie-visual, verbal, storywise)
Hmmm. I’m not sure how to answer that. Of course the layers have meaning and build to a greater whole. But we can never know if a viewer understands our meaning. In fact, I don’t think an artist can ever hope to have a viewer get what we are making. Once we put it out there, it is for the viewer to bring her eyes, her wit and her experience to it. None of the works have such a specific intention that a viewer could not bring her wisdom to the table. The work is open to interpretation, certainly.
Some works are actually quite simple. Yet there is always a story behind even the simplest of forms. Actually I think for the Varnish show the works will be pretty simple: Bronze Winged forms. These placed next to cloud imagery. And some text, that alludes to why it might all be there. But no secrets here. I will perform an original spoken word piece and create small books of poetic text and imagery – Those are layers of the experience. Each mode of art gives diverse experience, thus diverse meanings.
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| "Every Day, Every Drop" (2012) Digital Print on Paper Edition of 50 |
Language is a HUGE component of your work, often being incorporated into “coins” that are parts of sculptures (and poetry performance?) How do you incorporate the verbal into the visual? And how did you come by the moniker “Mudpoet?”
Well, yes. You are right. Language is important. Written word (and now spoken word evolving) has importance in my work: ‘Silver-lining Mother F*cker’ is the title of this Varnish show – and also the title of my spoken word piece I to be performed and it is the text of the small book I have created.
Words can give context for the work. They can pose questions or inspire wonder. They can define. Or confuse. Text can of course be problematic: It is not universal, like ‘visual form’ (sculpture) or music is. If you don’t speak English, that’s a problem with text in English. And text could bring the viewer into the analytical, instead of an emotional or sensory experience. But hopefully, I use it as a tool – and text is one layer to create multi-varied experience.
Many years ago I chose the name ‘mudpoet’ to describe my works – they were inspired by poetry, some included poetry, and I hoped the sculptures would be as enigmatic as a good poem might be - full of riddles and symbols. Now, as I also write and perform words, I see ‘mudpoet’ a good name for tme as I am engaged in the world of visual and verbal metaphor. As in metaphor, things are both what they seem and not what they seem.
You’ve spoken about engaging the viewer in your work in a way that is usually frowned upon in arts establishments; you want the viewer to touch the work, move it’s parts, etc. Why is the viewers’ physical engagement with your works important to you?
Well, yes. You are right. Language is important. Written word (and now spoken word evolving) has importance in my work: ‘Silver-lining Mother F*cker’ is the title of this Varnish show – and also the title of my spoken word piece I to be performed and it is the text of the small book I have created.
Words can give context for the work. They can pose questions or inspire wonder. They can define. Or confuse. Text can of course be problematic: It is not universal, like ‘visual form’ (sculpture) or music is. If you don’t speak English, that’s a problem with text in English. And text could bring the viewer into the analytical, instead of an emotional or sensory experience. But hopefully, I use it as a tool – and text is one layer to create multi-varied experience.
Many years ago I chose the name ‘mudpoet’ to describe my works – they were inspired by poetry, some included poetry, and I hoped the sculptures would be as enigmatic as a good poem might be - full of riddles and symbols. Now, as I also write and perform words, I see ‘mudpoet’ a good name for tme as I am engaged in the world of visual and verbal metaphor. As in metaphor, things are both what they seem and not what they seem.
“I hope (my work) can be a visual reminder... a celebration of human endeavor and spirit.”
You’ve spoken about engaging the viewer in your work in a way that is usually frowned upon in arts establishments; you want the viewer to touch the work, move it’s parts, etc. Why is the viewers’ physical engagement with your works important to you?
Well there are so many reasons to do this. Why are we making and showing the work -- For the viewer, right? At least that is one reason. It is very challenging to get a person to really stop and look at the work. So by allowing touching and interaction - this can be a playful way to entice someone to stick around longer than they might have, otherwise.
I chose bronze and steel as a material that will withstand touch. Small books invite touch. Coins invite touch.
As a sculptor I am all about touch. Sculpture is tactile and physical, is it not? Please touch the art.
Your upcoming exhibit at Varnish will be taking over the entire gallery as an immersive experience. Can you talk about the different components, their individual ideas and how they work together as a whole?
Yes, I am hoping to create a unified sensory experience for the visitor. This will include sound, 3-D and 2-D form, and color. As well, a small book of text and visuals. And I will perform the night of the Opening. Jeepers, sounds fun!
Winged” free standing sculptures—What do they reference and/or symbolize?
If I had to give priority, I am most excited about the new ‘Wings’ bronzes. These are 42” bronzes, three different forms (Wings 1, Wings 2, Wings 3) in a limited edition. Forms inspired by human endeavor. Maybe they are like inner super heroes. Varnish will unveil these works for the first time. I sculpted them during this recent Summer Olympics and was really thinking about human spiritual flight – as a metaphor, of course.
Additionally there will be some smaller bronze works with Wings, 12”-14” scale – which inspired the larger forms.
Etched Magnesium Plates
When creating the ‘Wings’ pieces, I was wondering where they should go -- and realized they needed to be surrounded by sky. Simple. I have a friend who dubbed me the ‘Silver-lining Mother F*cker’ because I tend to see the best, in bad situations. The Wings needed to be among those images of silver-lined clouds. I am etching metal plates with unique cloud images and simple text - to go on the wall. Should be cool.
Spoken word/Poetry
The ‘intention’ of why we make a work is essential. For me sound can create a mood and allude to deeper meanings or experience. As I am the author of the sculpture, I also am the author of the spoken word. It is important to me to share with my audience in spoken word. Again this raw imperfect quality of my forms is conveyed in the raw and personal performance and the writing of the poetry. It does go hand in hand. The words grow directly from my intention in the making of the forms and its imagery.
This exhibit is the first stop on a tour. Will you tell us about this tour, where it’s going and the significance of where it will be exhibited?
From Varnish Gallery SF, this work will travel to the Art of the Olympians Museum and Gallery in Fort Meyers, Florida for their third anniversary exhibit. Then three large bronzes, Wings, editions from this series have been commissioned for a private home in Martha’s Vineyard, MA. I am hopeful to have an exhibit of these works in New York City, on the way to Massachusetts.
*All works in this post are Copyright Peter Schifrin
I chose bronze and steel as a material that will withstand touch. Small books invite touch. Coins invite touch.
As a sculptor I am all about touch. Sculpture is tactile and physical, is it not? Please touch the art.
Your upcoming exhibit at Varnish will be taking over the entire gallery as an immersive experience. Can you talk about the different components, their individual ideas and how they work together as a whole?
Yes, I am hoping to create a unified sensory experience for the visitor. This will include sound, 3-D and 2-D form, and color. As well, a small book of text and visuals. And I will perform the night of the Opening. Jeepers, sounds fun!
Winged” free standing sculptures—What do they reference and/or symbolize?
If I had to give priority, I am most excited about the new ‘Wings’ bronzes. These are 42” bronzes, three different forms (Wings 1, Wings 2, Wings 3) in a limited edition. Forms inspired by human endeavor. Maybe they are like inner super heroes. Varnish will unveil these works for the first time. I sculpted them during this recent Summer Olympics and was really thinking about human spiritual flight – as a metaphor, of course.
Additionally there will be some smaller bronze works with Wings, 12”-14” scale – which inspired the larger forms.
Etched Magnesium Plates
When creating the ‘Wings’ pieces, I was wondering where they should go -- and realized they needed to be surrounded by sky. Simple. I have a friend who dubbed me the ‘Silver-lining Mother F*cker’ because I tend to see the best, in bad situations. The Wings needed to be among those images of silver-lined clouds. I am etching metal plates with unique cloud images and simple text - to go on the wall. Should be cool.
Spoken word/Poetry
The ‘intention’ of why we make a work is essential. For me sound can create a mood and allude to deeper meanings or experience. As I am the author of the sculpture, I also am the author of the spoken word. It is important to me to share with my audience in spoken word. Again this raw imperfect quality of my forms is conveyed in the raw and personal performance and the writing of the poetry. It does go hand in hand. The words grow directly from my intention in the making of the forms and its imagery.
This exhibit is the first stop on a tour. Will you tell us about this tour, where it’s going and the significance of where it will be exhibited?
From Varnish Gallery SF, this work will travel to the Art of the Olympians Museum and Gallery in Fort Meyers, Florida for their third anniversary exhibit. Then three large bronzes, Wings, editions from this series have been commissioned for a private home in Martha’s Vineyard, MA. I am hopeful to have an exhibit of these works in New York City, on the way to Massachusetts.
*All works in this post are Copyright Peter Schifrin
***
Art of the Olympians (AOTO) Museum is an organization with members worldwide, all of whom who are Artist / Olympians. Our mission is to serve youth, to inspire them to discover the ‘artist / champion’ within themselves - through the Olympian principles of ‘mind, body and spirit’. AOTO is a nonprofit organization. We, AOTO, just held a group exhibition at the London Olympiad. http://www.artoftheolympians.org/home.html
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