The latest, exciting installation – this time, moveable sculpture - is now on exhibit at the Sculpture Garden in the Brandi Fenton Memorial Park, 3420 E. River Road. Sculpture Tucson has brought together local and countrywide sculptors in “The Kinetic Factor,” a show that features 19 large-scale works.
“This show features the work of 15 sculptors from Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, all creating works with one common factor – motion within three-dimensional form,” notes Julie Sasse, curator of The Kinetic Factor. Sasse, chief curator emerita at the Tucson Museum of Art, adds that “. . . these artists have created sculptures that are affected by wind, balance, gravity, or the touch of the human hand through carefully calibrated balance and counterbalance.
“Kinetic art is not a new medium,” said Sasse. “It came into focus in the early 20th century with Dada artist Marcel Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel of 1913, and other “readymades” he created with found objects. The best-known kinetic artist was Alexander Calder, whose biomorphic “mobiles” and “stabiles” became the standard of finely calibrated and balanced works that addressed the interplay of heaviness and lightness.”
The pieces in the show demonstrate the range of materials and scale of this form of art. In the manner of a Calder piece's graceful balance and spinning colors, works in The Kinetic Factor will challenge us with new perspectives on volume and size.
Sculptors included in The Kinetic Factor are: Pamela Ambrosio (Tucson), John Benedict (Tucson), Joseph Benedict (Tucson), Alex Heveri (Tucson), Lyle London (Tempe), Hector Ortega (Phoenix), Willie Ray Parish (Tucson), John Poché (New Orleans), Frederick Prescott (Santa Fe), Laura Phelps Rogers (Denver), Jeremy Waak (Lancaster, PA), Shirley Wagner (Tucson), Ira Wiesenfeld (Tucson), Susan Woods (Tucson), and Jeff Zischke (Scottsdale).
The Kinetic Factor is on display in the Sculpture Park Tuesdays through Fridays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. As with all Sculpture Tucson shows, the exhibition is open free of charge to the public, although donations are appreciated. Sculpture Tucson and the Garden are at 3420 E. River Road on the west end of the Brandi Fenton Memorial Park.
For more information, visit Sculpture Tucson’s website at http://www.sculpturetucson.org or contact the office at 520-334-5871.
The best-known kinetic artist was Alexander Calder, whose biomorphic “mobiles” and “stabiles” became the standard of finely calibrated and balanced works that addressed the interplay of heaviness and lightness.