Clear outlook for acrylic sculptures: with technology improving and new colors, finishes and forms, acrylic has become sculpture's material of the moment

Art Business News, July, 2003 by Debbie Hagan

In 1936, the German company Rohm & Haas introduced Americans to a new material--acrylic resin. U.S. military aircraft manufacturers couldn't wait to get their hands on it. Clear like glass, lightweight and shatter resistant, they imagined fitting it to gun turrets, radar domes and protective canopies.

Artists looked at the mercurial material and saw something different. They watched light bouncing off the surface and thought sculpture. Alexander Calder used it in his mobiles. Louise Nevelson used it in her sculptural constructions. By the 1970s, artist Frederick Hart tried to cast it.

"There was no previous technology for this," recalled Robert Chase, Sr., who joined with Hart in forming Chesley LLC--a company designed to make acrylic sculptures. Ahead of them was a decade of hardships and costly trials and errors. Finally in 1982, Hart emerged with his first acrylic sculpture, "Gerontion." With it, he officially brought acrylic casting into the art world.

Right behind him came artist Michael Wilkinson. "When we started working with this stuff years ago, I called DuPont and asked why am I having a problem," said Mitch Meisner of Meisner Gallery, who has worked with Wilkinson for nearly 20 years. "DuPont had no clue as to how we were doing what we were doing. We were reinventing the wheel." Now Meisner's own polymer scientist does his problem solving.

This shows how far acrylic sculpting has evolved. Still, Meisner believes that "the medium is vastly untapped." It's still in its infancy. Even though dealers and collectors have seen huge changes in the last two decades, they can expect even more to come.

What's New

Since Hart and Wilkinson began casting acrylic sculptures, many well-known artists have followed them, including Ann Froman, Richard MacDonald and Ernest Caballero, just to name a few.

"The medium is starting to rock," said Meisner, who sees the technology improving, buying interest in acrylics increasing and more artists giving the medium a try. New colors, finishes and forms make this a vibrant and ever-changing segment of the art market.

"It's not your same old acrylic," said Angle Sanchez of the 10-year-old H Studios, in California, which sells the work of artist Shlomi Haziza. "We have new, vibrant colors. Anything with color is doing phenomenal." She sells four times as many color acrylic sculptures as clear.

There are several different ways to achieve color in acrylic: lamination, airbrushing and chemical treatments. "We're getting into acrylic sheets that you don't have to laminate. The color is in the material," said Sanchez. "It's good for architects who are looking for shelves or shelf dividers. They can use it to create a stained glass effect."

Beyond its vibrant colors, H Studios offers earthy bronzes and coppery tones that look like metals, but don't tarnish or rust. Introduced three years ago, "the earth tones opened a new market for us," she said. "I now see [acrylic] pieces in traditional homes. Depending on different colors, you can make them fit any lifestyle."

Shahrooz Nia, a California artist whose company is named Acrylicore, agrees with Sanchez. He said, "Acrylics, used as accent pieces, can freshen up a traditional look." In his company, hand-carved, hand-painted sculptures are the ones customers want.

Approximately eight months ago, Nia developed a technique for hand painting acrylic. "Lamination has always been done," he noted, "but this is different. It feels like a painting." In other words, it leaves a texture pattern on the surface. Instead of using normal paints, Nia paints the surface with acrylic chemicals, similar to the acrylic used in casting. He can create 15 to 16 translucent colors. Retail prices for these sculptures are $1,600 to $10,000.

During this economic downturn, Nia believes buyers want to combine sculpture with function. They find it easier to justify a sculpture that doubles as a bar stand or a compact disk rack. Nia's newest work, "Jewel of the Nile," is both a sculpture and the pedestal of a dining room table. In its center floats a brilliant-cut acrylic diamond with 53 sides. "It's functional art that's meant to entertain," explained Nia, who is an artist, furniture-maker and magician. On the retail market, the dining room pedestal sells for $18,000.

Defining Acrylic Buyers

"It's a very hard medium to work with," revealed Meisner about acrylic. "It's very unforgiving. That's why it's so expensive." In galleries, Wilkinson's sculptures are priced between $2,400 to $160,000. The best-selling price range is $4,000 to $6,000.

To make such a substantial discretionary purchase, buyers generally need to be in a high income bracket. Meisner, though reluctant to characterize the prototypical Wilkinson sculpture buyer, described the average purchaser as "a first-time sculpture collector or a bronze collector, who is looking for something different, or a doctor or a lawyer or the traditional limited-edition buyer."

What attracts buyers to Wilkinson's work, Meisner said, is the artist's romantic realism message and the fact that the work bears many of the elements of classic sculpture. The artist creates an intriguing interplay of positive and negative space in acrylic, which actually looks as if it were carved from crystal. This factor enables the sculpture to complement any decor--from traditional to contemporary. Because the artist has so many fans and collectors, Meisner just released a 102-page book about the artist, The Acrylic Sculpture of Michael Wilkinson. It sells for $90.