Sunday, April 25, 2010

A Guide to Snowboard Sculpture

 
Half of the fun of art is what the artist’s say about themselves and their work. The artists that produce snowboard sculptures are a particularly good example of the breed.

Medium – Orcas
What the artist says…
Dean is a classically trained, professional multimedia artist. He has been operating a successful Arts company, D’Arts, since 1987. He has extensive experience with large and small-scale murals, most drawing and painting mediums, printmaking, sculpture and graphic design
Reality…
Seems like a nice enough chap… until you find out that he painted this mural in school gym.
Fucking hell!



Medium - Bronze
What the artist says…
"The Turning Point" is a limited edition snowboard bronze sculpture that generates movement in the contemporary ribbon. The figurative work on each snowboarder embodies the art of snowboarding by displaying extreme flexibility and balance. The high polish alone lights a fire under this thing!
Reality…
Despite talking your standard artist gibberish this guy’s stuff is actually pretty good and he clearly knows a bit about snowboarding. Just recently he was commissioned to build a 14 foot tall version that was displayed in the lobby of the 2010 SIA trade show. And you have to agree, the polish is lovely.
 
Tom White
Medium – Bronze
What the artist says…
From the age of 16, Tom White grew up as a West Texas carpenter from Midland, Texas who had never had an interest in, nor been exposed to art.  In his early thirties, after developing a relationship with God through Christ, Tom discovered an unknown talent and love for art originally expressed in wood carving, sketching and pastels.  Within a few months Tom picked up sculpting with an ease that was astonishing.  When Tom took his first sculpture of a native American Indian, "Edgewalker", to one of the largest foundries in Texas, they were amazed that he could capture so much emotion and detail in his portrait bronze without 20 years of sculpting experience.   Tom acknowledges that his unique talent is a gift from God and he seeks to reflect God's creativity by mirroring the love and emotion God has for His creation in each bronze sculpture Tom creates.  
Reality…
Tom is quite, quite mad. If his own story doesn’t convince you that he is, then maybe his big robot-legged Jesus swing will do the trick…

ArtExchange
Medium - Scrap
What the artist says…
This is a handmade metal sculpture, incorporating nuts and bolts in its whimsical design. The process involved bending, cutting and welding metal by hand to create a beautiful and detailed piece.
Reality…
Having lost his figures to severe frost bite the malnourished and incredibly short-sighted giant jumped on his surfboard for an epic session of traversing the half-pipe.
What the artist says…
THIS IS AN AWESOME GIFT FOR THE SNOWBOARDER!!!
Reality…
Is it? Is it really?
 
Medium – Steel, Oak and Nightmares
What the artist says…
Rex the mouse is produced by hand in over 100 wacky, zany, crazy and totally off-the-wall "Rex the Mouse" metal sculptures! If you're not being selfish and are buying this for someone else, you can send it direct to your victim, just add the address in the delivery details box.
Reality…
There was no irony when they use the word victim.
 
Medium – Metal and Wine Bottle
What the artist says…
Our snowboarder wine bottle holder adds sophistication to any home or ski lodge. Add your favorite bottle of wine and this becomes the perfect gift for any snowboarder.
Reality…
Its looking like we should all expect some shitty Christmas presents this year.
 
Ridge Antiques
Medium – Age
What the artist says…
Found this a while back on eBay and it must have been sold since because I can’t find it again. As this is a secondhand purchase the artist was unavailable for comment.
Reality…
If you have spent years looking for a rusty snowboard-theme gravestone then you just missed your chance to buy one.
 
Chris Rose
Medium – bronze
What the artist says…
InSpring 1995 I watched many sowboarders entering the Honeycomb Snowboard Competition on Blackcomb Mountain, Whistler, BC. I have been impressed by the freedom of movement that snowboarders have while gliding down the run and this freedom I tried to express in this sculpture.
Reality…
$2,900. That’s what Chris expects you to pay for this.
 
Mark Alexander
Medium - snow
What the artist says…
Shaun White Wins Gold- snow sculpture in Charlotte, NC made by Mark Alexander after our 3 inches of snowfall last weekend. Gold medal added last night.
Reality…
No nonsense artistry.

Unknown
Medium – snow
What the artist says…
Unknown
Reality…
Well that shits all over Mark Alexander’s efforts.

Medium – trash
What the artist says…
Ian Trask is an emerging artist living in New York City. As a sculptor, he explores the inherent aesthetics of material waste.  His compositions present the disassembly of salvaged, once-functional objects, and their re-assembly into aesthetically motivated arrangements.  He argues that one of modern civilization’s greatest tragedies is the abundance of waste that results from an out-of-control, consumptive materialism in an industrially advanced global marketplace.
Reality…
I argue that one of modern civilization’s greatest tragedies is this sculpture.

Medium – Chainsaw
What the artist says…
Rick creates Art & Sculpture with his Husqvarna Chainsaws.
Reality…
A man who uses a chainsaw to sculpt is not to be fucked with. This is a lovely sculpture.

Medium – Bronze & Stone
What the artist says…
In Muskoka, her heart is at home. "Muskoka is everything," she says. She feels she gets as good as she gives, when it comes to local support - from groups and galleries to individuals, both year-round residents and visitors. As well, since returning to Muskoka in the late 1980s, she's never been at a loss for subject matter. "My whole inspiration, my roots . . . and all my clients," she observes, have ended up here. She doesn't show her work anywhere else.
Reality…
Does Muskoka actually exist?

Medium – Steel
What the artist says…
KC Scott has produced his sculptures for over 23 years. The evolution of his techniques has earned him the title of one of the finest metal artists in his medium.
Reality…
The title of “one of the finest metal artists in his medium” was given to KC by a magical unicorn from the land of make-believe.

Medium – Mannequins
What the artist says…
The Mannequin Gallery was established 20 years ago by Artist & President, Walt Wilkey.  Vice President, Shelley Freeman came on board in 1994.  We were married in 2000. Our Operations Manager, Eric Grey has been with us for over 12 years.
Reality…
That’s an overly-friendly work environment. More worryingly though, they also produced this mannequin of R Kelly…

Medium – Needlefelted Wool and Pipe Cleaners
What the artist says…
Ny name is Gunilla and I live in Stockholm, Sweden. I have always loved to make different kinds of handicraft, such as knitting, embroidery, arranging dried flowers and much more. I have also spent 1 year in an artist school. My passion right now is to work with the felting needle. The wool is so warm and soft and working with it eases my soul and gives me so much pleasure.
Reality…
Has anyone seen the movie ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’? There’s a whole lotta rape in Sweden. It’s one hell of a scary country.

Medium – Red Bull Cans
What the artist says…
“For me, the creative process is simply an avenue to purge ideas from my brain; otherwise they tend to consume me.” The 35-year-old, whose favorite medium is large-scale, acrylic-on-canvas work, declares that beverage cans presented one of the more difficult mediums he has ever attempted. “Although,” he admits with a laugh, “operating power-cutting equipment at 11:00 PM…may have also been part of the issue!”
Reality…
I’m glad John is not my neighbour.

Medium – Resin
This guy produced the current TTR World Cup Trophy
What the artist says…
Works for the coarse world began in 2003, when German artists Mark Landwehr and Sven Waschk started a distinct style of sculpting that looked almost as if they had chiselled and exposed the figures from three dimensional rock. 
Reality…
Yeah looks a bit like that, but it looks a lot more like it was done using clay modeling, producing some sort of mold and then filling the mold up with resin.
What the artist says…
I have been skateboarding a lot during my younger days. Nowadays the idea that my hands might become unusable, even for a few weeks, REALLY scares me. Luckily Snowboarding is more safe - spending days in virgin snow is just paradise.

Medium – Snow
What the artist says…
Reality…
Nice.





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2 comments:

  1. Zako used to be a spanish pro snowboarder, she is awesome and now a great artist.. plus here is one ofher sculpures which is a snowboarder :)
    http://www.google.fr/imgres?q=metalzako&um=1&hl=fr&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&biw=1250&bih=702&tbm=isch&tbnid=OUPmR1vm3IJZYM:&imgrefurl=http://www.artween.fr/Artistes/zako-metalzako/Theme/Method-Man&docid=8uNC08oRlynsCM&imgurl=http://www.artween.fr/var/artween/storage/images/artists/zako-metalzako/theme/method-man/387083-1-eng-US/Method-Man_oeuvre_grand.jpg&w=620&h=930&ei=11O9T7TgGIak0QXx0fQh&zoom=1

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  2. I don't know if anyone has looked at this in a long time, but I wish I had been a part of it. I remember seeing several of these sculptors at the Loveland shows when I was showing my snowboarding sculptures. They stopped by the booth and were inspired. I hide in the woods snowboarding too often, I suppose.


    Please see my
    Snowboarding Sculpture at www.johnstonsculpture.com. Better late than never!

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