• Art Organization: Laumeier Sculpture Park

Anschultz Discovers the Joy of Wood Chipping

While Brandon Anschultz was preparing for his upcoming show at Laumeier Sculpture Park, I was lucky enough to observe the construction (or deconstruction) of what I consider to be one of his most intriguing pieces—Approximately 1350 hours of painting and 2 hours of wood chipping. While I waited with Anschultz for the wood chipper to arrive at Laumeier, we discussed his show, and specifically the piece he was working on that day.

I couldn’t hide my horrified expression when I saw the back of his truck piled high with paintings, all sawed into five inch strips, in preparation for their demise. He showed me a painting that had been exhibited in New York, laid the pieces on the ground, shrugged his shoulders and suggested that he actually preferred it sawed apart. I asked why he was destroying work that he liked. “It’s just part of the process,” he replied. That’s when I began to understand that with Anschultz’s work, the process is as important as the finished product.

When he started up the wood chipper and began feeding his paintings into it one strip at a time, I snapped a few pictures. I couldn’t watch for long—it almost seemed intrusive for me to witness simultaneously the destruction of past work and the creation of new work.

If you would like to view the finished work, Approximately 1350 hours of painting and 2 hours of wood chipping, and meet the artist, attend the opening reception of Stick Around for Joy on Friday, June 11 from 6-8 p.m. at Laumeier’s Indoor Galleries.

— Rebecca Lee, Laumeier Intern

Brandon Anschultz: Stick Around for Joy, runs from June 11-September 26, 2010 at Laumeier Sculpture Park.

• Art Organization: Laumeier Sculpture Park

Mark Newport: Self-Made Man at Laumeier

The early February weather may not be all that inviting, but that’s no problem for Sweaterman!

Join us tonight (February 5) for the opening reception of Laumeier’s spring exhibition, including a performance by the artist as Sweaterman.  Laumeier Sculpture Park presents Mark Newport: Self-Made Man, an exhibition that explores the role of modern man and modern-day heroes.  Newport’s human-scale, hand-knit superhero costumes, photographs, video and embroidered comic book covers will be shown in the Park’s indoor galleries.

Mark Newport is a man who knits like no other.  The Michigan-based artist creates human-scale, acrylic-knit superhero costumes that question the role of heroes in contemporary culture. Some of these costumes reflect the comic book legends that many of us grew up with.  Newport also expands on the genre with creations of his own. Batman and Captain America are presented on equal terms with Newport’s Sweaterman and Y-Man.

Free Opening Reception: February 5, 6-8 PM

• Art Organization: Laumeier Sculpture Park

Roberley Bell

This week, I’ve been able to visit with artist Roberley Bell as she installs her exhibition at Laumeier.   Along with our curatorial crew -  Robert Goetz and Nick Lang - and intern Adrienne Sandusky, Bell has been assembling, mounting, and positioning a dizzying array of blobs, wonders, flowers, butterflies, insects and glass orbs.  Her subject matter and her color choices are undoubtedly arresting - but the larger question about man’s quest for “control” of nature is equally intriguing to me.

Visiting Laumeier is largely an outdoor experience and one with varying degrees of human-manipulated nature.  Between the manicured lawns and the landscaped plantings you can clearly see the nature of man’s desire.  While exploring the wooded trails, you can take a few steps into the thick brush and gain a sense of the landscape of two centuries ago.  The geographical distance between those two is not great, but the metaphorical expanse is large enough for artists like Bell to roam and explore the question.  How do we define nature?  Are we controlling the  natural world or is it controlling us?  Why do we surround our increasingly indoor lives with real and artificial nature?

Come to Laumeier and step inside for a whimsical look at the outside from the inside out.

Roberley Bell: Inside Out
Opening reception: October 9, 6-8:00 p.m.
Laumeier Sculpture Park, 12580 Rott Road
www.laumeier.org

• Art Organization: Laumeier Sculpture Park

New Sculpture at Laumeier

I woke up the other day and realized that an entire summer had whisked by in what seemed like a good night’s sleep. Perhaps it was the uncharacteristically great weather or maybe the litany of projects and events that made June, July and August blow right on by. Nevertheless, fall is fast approaching and I’d like to share a bit about two recent acquisitions to the Laumeier landscape and remind you about our upcoming fall exhibition.

The newest sculpture in Laumeier’s collection is Donut No. 3 (2002) by Fletcher Benton. Sited in the Children’s Sculpture Garden, Donut is a tasty visual treat for visitors of all ages. Benton was recently recognized by the International Sculpture Center with a lifetime achievement award and this piece showcases has mastery of materials and aesthetics.

Over the summer, Laumeier secured the loan of a fabulous sculpture by Cosimo Cavallaro. Knots (1996) tangles up perceptions with contorted steel that mimics string or noodles in a mystifying dance of form and mass.

You can visit Laumeier everyday between 8AM and sunset to see the new works by Benton and Cavallaro and more than 70 other sculptures. A visit in October will provide another opportunity for contrasts.

Roberley Bell: Inside Out which opens at 6PM on October 9, 2009 and continues through January 10, 2010 presents the vibrant colors of a fluorescent springtime and the juxtaposition of real and man-made natural objects and specimens during those neutral hued days of autumn and winter.

Visit Laumeier and be inspired.

• Art Organization: Mike Venso, Laumeier Sculpture Park, Mike Venso, Laumeier Sculpture Park

Building Built

The indoor galleries at Laumeier are abuzz with activity these days.  The time between exhibitions is always a bit chaotic as the previous show comes down, the walls are touched-up and repainted and the new exhibition rolls in.  However with the upcoming Built: Kranzberg Exhibition Series we have half a dozen artists working along side each other on five distinct installations.  I’ve attached a couple pix to provide a sneak-peak of the installations in process.

From the meticulous compositions of household ephemera or mounting of hundreds of computer keyboard keys by Sarah Frost to the deliberate swashbuckling of Cameron Fuller’s razor blade on a section of cardboard there’s no shortage of visual treats.
Each visit to the rooms where Mike Behle is constructing an interactive sound sculpture, where Stan Chisholm is transforming a staid white room with explosions of accidental color and Styrofoam and where Craig Norton’s amazing inkpen illustrations will hang brings a fresh affirmation of the creative vitality of St. Louis.
Don’t miss the June 5 opening from 6-8 p.m.!
http://www.laumeier.org

• Art Organization: Mike Venso, Laumeier Sculpture Park

Kranzberg 2009 Artists Announced

With the arrival of spring, the landscape at Laumeier Sculpture Park is bursting with life and color.  As visitors continue to enjoy the In Sight exhibition in the indoor galleries, the staff is hard at work preparing for the 2009 Kranzberg Exhibition.  I thought I’d share the names of the local artists whose work will blossom in the galleries this June. The six artists are busy creating five unique installations for the seventh edition of the Kranzberg series.

Sarah Frost will construct two large-scale, site specific sculptures of repurposed items from daily life.

Craig Norton will create an installation employing drawings, stencils and wooden sculptures that will focus on the continuing strife in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Stan Chisholm will construct an installation/environment using a variety of two and three-dimensional materials in a large narrative vignette filled with idiosyncratic figures.

Mike Behle will exhibit paintings and sculptures reflecting on emotional contrasts of the human condition.

Cameron Fuller & Sarah Paulsen will collaborate on an ambitious gallery installation merging Fuller’s architectural, sculptural trickery with animations by Paulsen.

Visit our website for more information and mark your calendars for the evening of June 5 and check-out these local artists on the rise.