Study for Fusiform, 2007 - Bryan Hunt
About the Work
About Study for Fusiform
Clearly Bryan Hunt's defining fascination with objects in space, which began when Hunt worked as an engineer's aid at NASA's Kennedy Space Center during the program's pivotal Apollo years (1967-69), continues to inspire his buoyant, fluid ...Read More
Clearly Bryan Hunt's defining fascination with objects in space, which began when Hunt worked as an engineer's aid at NASA's Kennedy Space Center during the program's pivotal Apollo years (1967-69), continues to inspire his buoyant, fluid shapes in silver, copper, and gray enamel. The sleek dynamism of his earliest dirigible forms from the 1970s has been compressed over decades of research in various media into taut, muscular abstract forms. This sculpture affirms Hunt's enduring interest in harnessing form to express the raw energy in nature while remaining true to his ongoing exploration of the potential of his materials to travel time and space.
Hunt's objects evolve slowly in the studio and subsequent fabrication process. Derived from prototypes and hand-carved in balsa wood, each form is ultimately crafted in Aqua-Resin and finished with metallic patinas of copper or aluminum leaf applied with a rich, hand-burnished process. Projecting out from the wall just above human height, an elongated, ridged copper foiled form seems to position itself for take off. Hunt's Airships are in the collections of MoMa, the Whitney, the Guggenheim, Moca LA, and the Hirschhorn in DC.Read Less
Hunt's objects evolve slowly in the studio and subsequent fabrication process. Derived from prototypes and hand-carved in balsa wood, each form is ultimately crafted in Aqua-Resin and finished with metallic patinas of copper or aluminum leaf applied with a rich, hand-burnished process. Projecting out from the wall just above human height, an elongated, ridged copper foiled form seems to position itself for take off. Hunt's Airships are in the collections of MoMa, the Whitney, the Guggenheim, Moca LA, and the Hirschhorn in DC.Read Less
About the Artist
About Bryan Hunt
Bryan Hunt is known for his contemporary sculpture which explores themes as varied as lakes, airships, and prominent landmarks. His study of water allows him ...Read More
Bryan Hunt is known for his contemporary sculpture which explores themes as varied as lakes, airships, and prominent landmarks. His study of water allows him to explore sculptural casting processes as well as natural waterfall compositions. Cast from models in chiseled plaster and wet clay, Hunt's sculptures are made from molten metal which, as it hardens, simulates arrested water. His sculptural cascading forms give, in Hunt's words, "liquid a tangible form." Hunt's aluminum and bronze works, some of which soar up to ten feet in height, recall his fascination with nature, and in particular, with the speed, force, pressure, and current of water running through narrow ravines and gorges. Hunt demonstrates the tension of representing water as an objective source in nature and the subjective reality of sculpture as an art form. The resulting work is the unique coexistence of upward-soaring sculpture and the downward, flowing plunge.
Among Hunt's most distinctive work are the Fusiforms, light airships made of balsa wood and finished with metallic patinas. These elegant forms, which are metaphors for objects in flight, seem to defy gravity. They jump off the walls or stand in pedestals, and although they are recognizable in their form, they convey a sense of abstraction before anything else, not unlike the artist's Waterfalls. In 2006, Hunt was commissioned by the city of New York to create a sculpture for Coenties Slip Park in Lower Manhattan, a site mentioned on the first page of Melville's Moby Dick. Coenties Ship, as it is called, is a twenty-one foot tall sculpture fabricated in stainless steel and glass. It is part of Hunt's Airship series. In 2011 Hunt's ten-year survey of his Waterfall sculpture series was displayed on Park Avenue between 52nd and 57th streets in Manhattan. It was the largest and most ambitious outdoor display of his work to date spanning from 1977 to 2006, brought together for the first time. On behalf of the City of New York, he also designed commemorative pieces from World Trade Center steel later given to families of the victims of 9/11.Read Less
Among Hunt's most distinctive work are the Fusiforms, light airships made of balsa wood and finished with metallic patinas. These elegant forms, which are metaphors for objects in flight, seem to defy gravity. They jump off the walls or stand in pedestals, and although they are recognizable in their form, they convey a sense of abstraction before anything else, not unlike the artist's Waterfalls. In 2006, Hunt was commissioned by the city of New York to create a sculpture for Coenties Slip Park in Lower Manhattan, a site mentioned on the first page of Melville's Moby Dick. Coenties Ship, as it is called, is a twenty-one foot tall sculpture fabricated in stainless steel and glass. It is part of Hunt's Airship series. In 2011 Hunt's ten-year survey of his Waterfall sculpture series was displayed on Park Avenue between 52nd and 57th streets in Manhattan. It was the largest and most ambitious outdoor display of his work to date spanning from 1977 to 2006, brought together for the first time. On behalf of the City of New York, he also designed commemorative pieces from World Trade Center steel later given to families of the victims of 9/11.Read Less
Description
Hand-carved balsa wood crafted in Aqua Resin finished with metallic patina of aluminum leaf.Shipping
Ships in 10-14 business days.This work is final sale and not eligible for return.
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