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Sarasota Season Of Sculpture Opens “Under Azure Skies”

By Steven J. Smith

Sarasota’s bay front once again takes center stage in the art world as Sarasota Season of Sculpture (SSoS) celebrates its sixth season on November 11th with the unveiling of a remarkable exhibition called “Under Azure Skies.”

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Curated by artist John Henry, who also has a work in the exhibition, the collection of ten breathtaking sculptures was last seen in Lucerne, Switzerland in September of 2010. The show will run through May of 2012, according to SSoS Chair Susan McLeod, an artist herself as well as a highly successful Sarasota Realtor®.

“This exhibition is a defining element of the cultural artistic core of Sarasota,” McLeod said. “It’s often the very first time people realize that we have such a strong artistic core, as when they’re driving down that bay front and seeing what we refer to as a free, open to the public, outdoor museum.”

This particular exhibition differs from previous SSoS shows, McLeod added, because in the past sculptures were gathered individually through a panel comprised of art experts and museum curators. “Under Azure Skies” comes to Sarasota as a single entity.

And what a collection it is. These sculptures are new and unique, brought to life by the artists with powerful concepts, dramatic shapes and vibrant colors. Art aficionado Roy Oppenheim remarked at the Lucerne opening that modern sculpture does not aim to duplicate nature. Instead, each work aspires to assume its own identity, finding a resonance in its own “inner laws.”

“I like to compare each new creation with a new living being,” Oppenheim said. “Like any living being, a work of art is always unique and special – an ‘original.’ So it is hardly surprising that, despite all our modern-day technology and industrialization, all the sculptors whose works are exhibited here firmly believe in the power and significance of handcrafted works; they insist on expressing their ideas concretely, placing a priority on visual and tactile experience.”

Even more impressive is that the artists — all of them American — come from divergent backgrounds and origins yet their sculptures feel inextricably linked to one another:

Award-winning sculptor John Clement (“Squirt”) was born in Philadelphia and has had many successful solo exhibitions around the country. Terry Karpowicz (“Untitled”) is a disciple and renowned practitioner of Minimalism and Conceptualism. Chakaia Booker (“Renegade”) is known for her use of recycled materials such as rubber tires, steel and wood frames. Isaac Duncan (“Tux”) works with the illusion of movement, weight and gravity by placing certain forms at different angles. Albert Paley (“Porta”) is the first metal sculptor to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Institute of Architects. Verina Baxter (“Big Red Tumkin”) has gradually transitioned her work in stone to incorporating painted aluminum and stainless steel into her imaginative works. Bret Price (“Oh’d”) is the subject of a fascinating documentary, “Art in the Middle.” Douglas Schatz (“Crown”) has successfully exhibited in many prestigious regional and national shows. Peter Lundberg (“Mercury, Mars, Venus”) is acclaimed for his monumental concrete and steel sculptures. John Henry (“Complexus”) boasts signature pieces dispersed throughout the world in public, private, and museum collections.

Sarasota Season of Sculpture has been a mainstay on the city’s bay front since 1998, McLeod said. Exhibitions take place every other year, and are funded through various granting organizations and individual donors throughout the country. “Under Azure Skies” has a budget of $120,000, she said.

So how does Sarasota Season of Sculpture gauge its impact on art lovers?

“The way we stand back and measure our success is by the number of people that are walking the bay front, viewing the individual sculptures, and discussing art,” McLeod said. “If there’s a success measure for us, it’s by the amount of conversation about art itself.”

She added that the comments that please her most are from tourists and people from out of town who feel a significant definition of the Sarasota community itself when they see world-renowned sculpture on the bay front. Feedback is always welcome about the show and can be given via an e-mail at the organization’s website, www.SarasotaSeasonOfSculpture.org.

“But people respond to us in all sorts of ways,” McLeod said. “There are certainly printed commentaries and letters to the editor of local newspapers, and we appreciate hearing from everybody, whether it’s positive or negative. As long as it’s generating conversation about art, we feel like we’re fulfilling the mission of not just Season of Sculpture, but a purpose for public art.”

www.sarasotaseasonofsculpture.org

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