Thinking outside the block

Art Business News, July, 2004 by Julie Keller

When many art collectors and galleries contemplate sculpture, they often think of classic works such as Michelangelo's "David" and media such as bronze, marble and acrylic. Nowadays, however, sculpture has grown to encompass a variety of exciting new media and several artists have found smashing success with works forged with a variety of unique materials. Indeed, many artists are moving out of the more traditional sculpture realm and creating masterpieces with such substrates as steel, aluminum, rusted metal, fiber, glass, wood, resin and more.

This strategy has paid off. Collectors are flocking to galleries and studios to bring this work into their homes, and art dealers are discovering that the appeal of the work and their clients' response to it has become a compelling reason to bring it into their galleries and boutiques.

"It's not about sale-ability," explains Andrew Witkin, director of the Barbara Krakow Gallery in Boston, a gallery that carries the work of several unique sculpture artists, including Maryellen Latas, Bill Thompson and Michael Beatty, among others. "It's about the personal response we have to the work, which is a very positive one, that makes us want to stand behind it and support it. Our hope is that what we think is great, others will as well."

Many artists are finding success with more nontraditional work. Among them are the Fenton, Mich.-based, husband-and-wife team of Marcia and Bill Finks, who have been selling their funky, painted, rusted-metal sculptures with great success for the past 15 years with their company, Primitive Twig.

"People who come in to buy Primitive Twig are looking for something that makes them happy and makes them smile;' explains Bill Finks. "And the response is exactly that way. [When potential buyers see our work], they get big smiles on their faces, and it is very gratifying. Whether or not they decide to buy, you get a wonderful response and that is great to see."

The same can be said for another Michigan-based husband-and-wife team, Laurie Fowler and Bill Thelan, who have spent the past 20 years selling their large scale, three-dimensional fiber sculptures to collectors nationwide from their Northville, Mich., studios.

Still other artists have also found success with their metal sculptures. Tom Wargin, Menomonee, Wis., works in bronze and aluminum, and incorporates such elements as glad, wood or cast resin components in his futuristic metal sculptures. "The sculpture is unique because I make it that way," he says. "My philosophy is to make it unlike that which has already been made, and try to be different."

Richard Warrington, a Chesney, Wash. based multi-media sculptor who works primarily in powder-coated aluminum to create two- and three-dimensional hollow forms and silhouette sculptures, says his collectors also enjoy the clean, strong compositions. "They are drawn to the luster, colors, illusions of depth, movement and form," he says. "They want to touch it and feel the smooth surfaces. The sculpture speaks to them; they feel wonderful in its presence and want to be with it."

And steel sculptor Jerry Schmidt, an artist trained by his late father Fred, also finds that art lovers are drawn to his work because of its unique qualities. "I can create a piece of sculpture out of something that people may originally perceive as ugly" he says. "But I can turn it into a beautiful sculpture. I think people really like the idea of how beautiful metal can become after it has been touched and formed by my hand."

Universal and Eclectic Collectors

Collectors of unique sculpture are not easily pigeonholed. Many of the artists say their work appeals to people of all ages, income levels and locations, which makes their work attractive to galleries looking to diversify their offerings.

Schmidt says his collectors range from older people who bought his father's work to younger collectors who may have seen it in their parents' homes. "There is no preference in this type of art--from young to old, they all love it," he says. "I am finding that the children of the people my father dealt with are looking at my art. It's almost like a second generation of artist is appealing to a second generation of collectors."

Finks says he is always pleased by the diversity in his collectors. Recently, he sold his work to a couple in their late 60s. "Instead of the wife picking something out, the husband picked something out for himself," Finks says. "He picked out something with very bright colors that was very whimsical and funky."

Finks says this purchase was followed by the sale of 10 pieces to a young plastic surgeon. "She said she was decorating her entire house with them" he recalls. "She said she loves happy, fun art and her whole house is that way."

Education Aids

Some artists say that it does take a level of sophistication among their clients to understand what they are buying. Thelan says that his buyers normally need education about the media of fiber and how it is created. For example, he and his wife create their work from scratch, starting with a constructed welded steel framework covered with hand-woven yarn. He also finds the most success with collectors who have open wall space large enough to accommodate the intricate, three-dimensional sculptures.