Tom Otterness | Metal on Paper: Silverpoint, Copperpoint, and Steelpoint Drawings

TOM OTTERNESS

SEPTEMBER 16 - OCTOBER 17, 2015

2015

40 WEST 57TH STR EET N E W YO R K , N E W YO R K 1 0 0 1 9 | ( 2 1 2 ) 5 4 1 4 9 0 0 M A R L B O R O U G H G A L L E R Y.C O M

TOM OTTERNESS M E TA L O N PA P E R

S I LV E R P O I N T, C O P P E R P O I N T & STEELPOINT DRAWINGS

SEPTEMBER 16 - OCTOBER 17, 2015

40 WEST 57TH STREET NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10019 | (212) 541 4900 M A R L B O R O U G H G A L L E R Y. C O M

DuckRabbit, 2015 silverpoint and blue colored pencil, on prepared and toned paper 11 1/4 x 12 1/2 inches, 28.6 x 31.8 cm 2

METAL AGILITY

Alchemy is a kind of philosophy: a kind of thinking that leads to a way of understanding.

-Marcel Duchamp Tom Otterness has always been an ardent alchemist. Frequently stemming from explorations of fables, personal narratives as folklore and the notion of transformation, his sculptures perform a kind of magic trick. In the artist’s world, spheres and cones are arranged to evince clothing or double as stylized body parts.

Tiny indentations in metal become expressive, knowing eyes. As countless viewers of all ages who have encountered his public installations know, Otterness can spin his yarns into monumental but inviting bronze. In addition to these alchemical traits, his outwardly buoyant characters—whether man, woman or beast— appear to have inner, knowing lives. Their glee is matched only by their savvy.

For his first show of works on paper in over thirty years, Otterness presents some familiar denizens of his imagination as well as new creatures and fresh scenarios. Here the artist turns to the largely forgotten practice of creating in silverpoint as well as copperpoint and steelpoint. Like DaVinci and other Old Masters such as Rembrandt, Holbein and Dürer before him, Otterness utilized a stylus on paper treated with ash and pigment which endowed its surface with a sandpaper-like quality. The interaction of point and paper involves a physical “digging in” in order to enable the stylus to make its mark by leaving the silver behind.

Crosshatching gives the drawings added depth, and Otterness allows some works to become especially dark, and in a sense heavy, with overlapped metal. “They often surprise me,” says Otterness referring to the works, “the image stays embedded in the surface and as it progresses it’s only got one direction— you can’t put it in reverse.” Indeed, with silverpoint there’s no erasing. The spidery but indelible lines are essentially carved into the background and come together to create a kind of sculpture of metal on paper.

That the curved metal lines are quickly laid down adds to the sense of movement and layering central to the works. In Assisted Walking (all works mentioned, 2015) we see two figures on a yellow background. One is infirm and hunched over a walker, but seemingly content and making progress towards the edge of the paper. The other character pats the less fortunate one on the back encouragingly, ready to catch her should she fall. All this is conveyed with just a few strokes of the stylus.

Cone Feeding Child features a close-knit array of silver lines, and depicts one of the artist’s familiar characters spoon-feeding a smaller figure. Although the mother is dark, her volume created by cross-hatched shadow, the body of the child is merely suggested with a few wispy marks, definitively unfinished. Otterness shows his alchemical flair perhaps most directly in DuckRabbit, a silverpoint and colored pencil work in which a creature is depicted with two bodies of different species and one hybrid head. The drawing references a classic optical illusion as well as the work of painter Jasper Johns, who also painted the chimerical being and was similarly intrigued by alchemy and doubling.

In each of the unique works on display, whether a narrative vignette, a long-simmering notion becoming realized, or a puzzle that solves itself, Otterness presents engaging brainstorms.

Constructed of silver, copper or steel, the drawings exist on their own terms and achieve a permanent presence unusual for works on paper. These precious trails of metal affix themselves to the field, and each line lands in a way that suggests it is where it was always meant to be.

Douglas McClemont 3

Reclusive Draftsman, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 12 x 7 inches, 30.5 x 17.8 cm 4

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Sunflower, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 24 1/2 x 21 inches, 62.2 x 53.3 cm Rabbit, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm 6

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Cone Feeding Child, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm 8

Assisted Walking, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 28 3/4 x 22 3/4 inches, 73 x 57.8 cm 9

Study for Wire Sculpture #1, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 29 x 23 inches, 73.7 x 58.4 cm 10

Money Fight and Hand Drawing Hand, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm 11

Walking the Dog, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 x 11 1/2 inches, 35.6 x 29.2 cm 12

Shisha Sphere, 2015, copperpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm 13

Loon, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 11 x 14 inches, 27.9 x 35.6 cm Kissing Spheres, 2014, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 23 x 20 inches, 58.4 x 50.8 cm 14

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The Look, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm First Date, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 10 3/4 x 13 inches, 27.3 x 33 cm 16

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World Upside Down, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm 18

Hands Drawing Hands, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 4 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches, 12.1 x 11.4 cm 19

Proud Cactus, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm 20

Sphere Holding Cube, 2014, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 18 x 14 inches, 45.7 x 35.6 cm 21

Armadillo, 2015, silverpoint and copperpoint on prepared and toned paper, 11 x 14 1/2 inches, 27.9 x 36.8 cm 22

The Swing, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 13 x 11 1/2 inches, 33 x 29.2 cm 23

Family in Grey, 2015, silverpoint, blue and black pencil, on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm 24

Contemplative Sphere, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 22 x 29 inches, 55.9 x 73.7 cm 25

The Secret, 2015, copperpoint and steelpoint on prepared and toned paper, 24 1/2 x 21 inches, 62.2 x 53.3 cm 26

Livestock, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 9 x 11 1/2 inches, 22.9 x 29.2 cm 27

The Sculptor, 2014, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 18 x 14 inches, 45.7 x 35.6 cm 28

Crossing the Street, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.2 x 29.2 cm 29

Cone and Sphere on Subway, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm 30

Cone at Table, 2015, copperpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm 31

Free Speech, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 24 1/2 x 20 3/4 inches, 62.2 x 52.7 cm 32

Sphere Holding Cube, 2014, silverpoint and watercolor on prepared and toned paper, 22 x 18 1/2 inches, 55.9 x 47 cm 33

Fight, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm 34

Opposites Join, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm 35

Couple with Child on Subway, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 11 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches, 29.2 x 36.8 cm 36

Elephant/Man, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 23 x 29 inches, 58.4 x 73.7 cm 37

Reading, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.8 x 29.2 cm 38

Mouse and Cat, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 10 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches, 26.7 x 24.8 cm 39

Study for Wire Sculpture #2, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 x 12 inches, 35.6 x 30.5 cm 40

Worried Cone, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 10 x 8 inches, 25.4 x 20.3 cm 41

Tai Chi Chuan/Snake Creeps Down, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 21 x 24 1/2 inches, 53.3 x 62.2 cm Tai Chi Chuan/Cloud Hands, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.2 x 29.2 cm 42

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Skeletons, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 11 1/2 x 14 1/4 inches, 29.2 x 36.2 cm 44

Frog, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 14 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches, 36.2 x 29.2 cm 45

Boy on the Ground, 2015, steelpoint on prepared and toned paper, 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches, 26.7 x 26.7 cm Sphere Looking Up, 2014, silverpoint and red pencil on prepared and toned paper, 32 x 22 inches, 81.3 x 55.9 cm 46

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Happy Snake, 2015, silverpoint on prepared and toned paper, 11 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches, 29.2 x 36.8 cm 49

TOM OTTERNESS 1952

Born in Wichita, Kansas

1999

The artist works in Brooklyn, New York.

1998 AWARDS 2009 2005 2003

Alumni Achievement Award, Scholastic Art and Writing, New York, New York Certificate of Merit, The Municipal Art Society of New York, New York, New York Art Achievement Award, 2003 Biennial Exhibition of Public Art, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2015 2014

2013 2012

2011 2007 2006

2005

2004 2003

2002

Makin Hay, Ulrich Museum, Wichita, Kansas Tom Otterness: Creation Myth, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York Gulliver, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, New York Makin’ Hay, Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, Bentonville, Arkansas Tom Otterness, Marlborough Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco Tom Otterness, The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, Palm Beach, Florida Tom Otterness: Animal Spirits, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York Tom Otterness: The Public Unconscious, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, New York Tom Otterness in Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills, California Tom Otterness, Marlborough Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco Tom Otterness in Grand Rapids: The Gardens to the Grand, Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan Tom Otterness on Broadway, New York, New York Tom Otterness in Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana Several Strange Objects, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, California Free Money on Park Avenue, Park Avenue and 57th Street, New York, New York Bombeater, Skoto Gallery, New York, New York Tom Otterness: Free Money and Other Fairy Tales, Marlborough Gallery & Marlborough Chelsea, New York, New York See No Evil, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York What the Hay, Utica, Montana Tom Otterness, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbour, New York

1997

1996 1995

1994

1993

1992 1991

1990

1987

1986 1985 1984 1983

Tom Otterness, Galería Marlborough, Madrid, Spain Tom Otterness: Gold Rush—New Sculpture and Drawings, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, California Tom Otterness: The Marriage of Real Estate and Money and Other Recent Projects, PBCC Museum of Contemporary Art, Lake Worth, Florida Otterness, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York Life Underground, Battery Park City Authority, New York, New York (through 1998) Tom Otterness: Marriage of Real Estate and Money, Motel Fine Arts, New York, New York Tom Otterness, On the Commons: Recent Sculptures, MetroTech Center, Brooklyn, New York Tom Otterness: The Tables, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas Tom Otterness: Drawings and New Sculpture, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York, New York Tom Otterness: Recent Sculpture, Public Art Fund at Doris Freedman Plaza, New York, New York Tom Otterness: Recent Drawings and Small Objects, Gallery of Contemporary Art, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Galerie Weber, Münster, Germany Tom Otterness: New Sculpture, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, California Tom Otterness: The Tables, The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Tom Otterness, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York, New York Tom Otterness: The Tables, Sculptures and Drawings, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencià, Spain; traveled to Portikus/Senckenbergmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; and Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, The Netherlands Tom Otterness, Nancy Drysdale Gallery, Washington, D.C. James Corcoran Gallery, Santa Monica, California; traveled to Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York, New York The Tables, Lannan Foundation, Los Angeles, California The Tables, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York, New York Projects: Tom Otterness, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York Sculpture and Drawings, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, California Tom Otterness, PPG Plaza, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York, New York Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne, Germany Tom Otterness, Recent Drawings, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York, New York Sculpture, Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York, New York

SELECTED PUBLIC COMMISSIONS

2002

Mortellito Memmorial, Branchbrook Park Station, New Jersey Transit, Newark, New Jersey Makin’ Hay, Utica, Montana; Sun Valley, Idaho; traveled to The University of Washington, Pullman, Washington; The Outdoor Art Collection, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California; and San Antonio, Texas (acquired by the Alturas Foundation; through 2009)

2014

Other Worlds, Hamad International Airport, Doha, Qatar

2013

Creation Myth, Memorial Art Gallery Centennial Sculpture Park, Rochester, New York

2011

Big Girl Playground, Ridgehill, Yonkers, New York

2010

Otterness’s Playground, Silver Towers, New York, New York

2001

Suspended Mind, Carl Sagan Discovery Center, Montefiore Children’s Hospital, in collaboration with Rockwell Group, Bronx, New York

Free Money, Wi City Blooming, Ilsan, Korea

The Lesson, Little Red School House, New York, New York

Centennial Sculpture Park, Rochester, New York (commissioned by Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester)

Independence School, P.S.234, New York, New York

Wild Life, Connell, Washington

2000

Time and Money, Public Art Fund, Hilton Times Square, Hilton Hotel Corporation, New York, New York

Another World, Happy Hallow Park & Zoo, San Jose, California

Play Garden Park, Fulton, Mississippi

1999

Gold Rush, United States Federal Courthouse, General Services Administration, Sacramento, California

2008

Millipede, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas

Large Covered Wagon, DUMBO Brooklyn, New York (through January 2009)

The Music Lesson, Music Building, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina Arts Council, Greensboro, North Carolina

Social Invertebrates: Millipede, Scorpion, Walking Stick, Phoenix Convention Center, City of Phoenix, Office of Art and Culture, Phoenix, Arizona

Feats of Strength, Western Washington University, funded in partnership with Washington State Arts Commission, Art in Public Places Program, Bellingham, Washington

New Direction, Hunterdon Museum of Art, Clinton, New Jersey

2007

Coqui, P.S. 20, New York, New York

Rockman, United States Federal Courthouse Minneapolis, General Services Administration, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Matriculated Nature, City of Claremont, California

1998

The Gates, Cleveland Public Library, in collaboration with Maya Lin, Cleveland, Ohio

DNA, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

Immigrant Family, 18 Yonge Street, Toronto, Canada

1997

Law of Nature, United States Federal Courthouse Portland, General Services Administration, Portland, Oregon

2005

Amorphophallus Titanum, New York Botanical Gardens, Bronx, New York

Visionary, Metro Tech Center, Brooklyn, New York

Humpty Dumpty, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, New York, New York

1996

The Marriage of Real Estate and Money, Roosevelt Island, New York, New York

1995

Dreamers Awake, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas

Large Frog and Bee, Montefiore Children’s Hospital, Bronx, New York

1993

Upside-Down Feet, Krannert Museum of Art, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois

Large Covered Wagon, Pioneer Park, Walla Walla, Washington

2004

Life Underground, 14th Street Subway Station ACEL Lines, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York, New York

Die Überfrau, State Library, Munster, Germany; Architect: Bolles- Wilson

El Coqui Gigante de Las Cavernas del Río Camuy, Parque de Los Cavernas del Río Camuy, Camuy, Puerto Rico

Untitled, Museum Beelden aan Zee, The Museum Foundation, Scheveningen, The Netherlands

Tornado of Ideas and Horse and Rider, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

2003

The Return of the Four-Leggeds, Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, Washington State Arts commission, Spokane, Washington

1992

The Real World, Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City Authority, New York, New York

1991

The Frieze, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, North Carolina

The New World, The Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, General Services Administration, Los Angeles Federal Building, Los Angeles, California

1984

Kings Parade, Buchhandlung Walther Koenig, Cologne, Germany

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N E W YO R K /

MADRID /

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MARLBOROUGH FINE ART LTD. 6 Albemarle Street London W1S 4BY Telephone 44.20.7629.5161 Fax 44.20.7629.6338 www.marlboroughfineart.com mfa@marlboroughfineart.com MARLBOROUGH GRAPHICS 6 Albemarle Street London W1S 4BY Telephone 44.20.7629.5161 Fax 44.20.7495.0641 graphics@marlboroughfineart.com MARLBOROUGH CONTEMPORARY 6 Albemarle Street, London, W1S 4BY Telephone 44.20.7629.5161 info@marlboroughcontemporary.com www.marlboroughcontemporary.com 52

DESIGN /

Sydney Smith Devon Johnson

PRODUCTION /

EDITION OF 1200 P R I N T E D I N N E W YO R K B Y P R O J E C T C O V E R / Hand

with Tool, 2015 steelpoint on prepared and toned paper 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches, 26.7 x 26.7 cm

B A C K C O V E R / Rain Cloud, 2015 silverpoint on prepared and toned paper 4 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches, 12.1 x 11.4 cm

© 2015 Marlborough Gallery, Inc. ISBN 978-0-89797-483-4

TOM OTTERNESS

SEPTEMBER 16 - OCTOBER 17, 2015

2015

40 WEST 57TH STR EET N E W YO R K , N E W YO R K 1 0 0 1 9 | ( 2 1 2 ) 5 4 1 4 9 0 0 M A R L B O R O U G H G A L L E R Y.C O M