Sculpture Forum 60: Clay Figure Critique at New York Studio School
The human figure is an essential touchstone of sculpture, remade generation by generation as it must be today, by contemporary artists. Over three decades working together at the New York Studio School, Garth Evans and Bruce Gagnier conducted life-size figure critiques that are now legendary. Those had been undocumented, but the recent Figure Marathon, taught by Brandt Junceau, provided a fresh occasion for discussion. Their latest exchange, joined by curator and art historian Choghakate Kazarian, ranged from consideration of individual artists’ handling of the clay, to the philosophical issues of engaging the human figure, person to person. This is an edited version of this discussion. Recorded June 2023.
(Video/editing by Rachael Bohlander)
Sculpture Forum; confronting sculpture.
I have launched this project because I feel that there is a need for it, a hunger even. It is a simple concept; small groups, led by a sculptor, confronting sculptures and articulating the thoughts, feelings, ideas and associations that the works provoke. These conversations will take place in museums, galleries, studios and in front of public works. The ensuing discussion is video taped and made public in such a way that others can respond, extending the exchange. Most of the arts have well-established mechanisms through which the meaning and significance of a particular work is forged yet, too often, sculpture is dealt with as an adjunct to painting. This project aims to give sculptors themselves a place to disclose how they look at sculptures, and along with educators, critics and others, to share how they engage with them and what they consider valuable about them.
Garth Evans, 2018
