KEN BORTOLAZZO: OPTIKINETICS III

ON EXHIBIT

J U LY 3 - A U G U S T 3 1 , 2 0 0 8 RECEPTION

F I R S T T H U R S D A Y, J U L Y 3 | F R O M 5 - 8 P M S E V E N E A S T A N A PA M U S T R E E T | S A N TA B A R B A R A , C A Santa Barbara based sculptor Ken Bortolazzo is a master of creating complex, yet pleasing visuals for the human

artist’s clever manipulation of moiré effects allows him to sculpt in light as well as metal, a subtle nod to the pioneering

eye. His large, earthbound interlocking pieces of steel from a decade ago have metamorphosed into optikinetics

efforts in California’s Light and Space movement.

- kinetic sculptures that use burnishing and stainless steel mesh to produce special optical effects. Careful balancing

Ken Bortolazzo was born in 1947 and educated in Santa Barbara before he apprenticed with Julio Agostini and

and artful engineering enable skeletal panels and steel arms to seemingly lift off and float above the ground. Delicate in appearance and excitable with just a breath of air, they can nevertheless hold up in the fiercest of winds. They continually redefine the space around them by spinning and undulating while also creating optical illusions from refracted and reflected light. They are minimal shapes with maximum kinetic appeal.

Kenneth Noland. Art collaborations with Irma Cavat at UCSB led him to his apprenticeship with renowned American kinetic sculptor, George Rickey (1907-2002). Bortolazzo studied Rickey’s precise mechanics and added his own ideas about light and form. He has exhibited widely and has work in many private and public collections. Recent achievements include the placement of Estacas at the Museum of Outdoor Art. In 2008, an original commission was installed in a reflecting pool on the Microsoft campus

This year saw the artist’s first experiments with bronze mesh, a new medium that appears warmly translucent and conversely opaque as it moves silently through space. The

in Redmond, Washington.

-Susan Bush, Director of Contemporary Art

T O P R E V I E W T H I S E X H I B I T I O N O N L I N E , V I S I T: h t t p : / / w w w. s u l l i v a n g o s s . c o m / e x h i b i t s / k e n _ b o r t o l a z z o 2 0 0 8 . a s p

COVER: WINDOWS, 2007 (details)

OPPOSITE: WINDOWS, 2007

COVER: 48 x 18 x 4 inches | stainless steel | 3 of 3

OPPOSITE: 48 x 18 x 4 inches | stainless steel | 3 of 3

DYADIC DANCE, 2008 63 x 57 x 16 inches | stainless steel | 1 of 3

ESTACAS - VARIATION I, 2007 77 x 32 x 5 inches | stainless steel | 1 of 3

CITY SCAPE, 2007 (details) 79 x 32 x 4 inches | stainless steel | unique

MOON FLOWER, 2008 44 x 31 x 20 inches | stainless steel with bronze and copper | unique

The use of bronze and copper as materials in the artist’s kinetic sculptures marks a departure.

PHARAOH, 2007 (detail) 67 x 22 x 4 inches | stainless steel | ed. of 3

FIG. 1

COMMISSIONS In 2006, Ken Bortolazzo was commissioned by the Microsoft Corporation to create a monumental sculpture for the campus of their Redmond, Washington facility. The sculpture was installed this year. Shown at dusk in Figure 3, the piece is called Double Quad. The work itself measures 180 inches by 96 inches by 96 inches when articulated to its largest size. At rest, the work measures 180 inches by 52 inches by 10 inches. It is installed in a man made pond that is surrounded by tables and chairs for outdoor dining.

Ken also had a sculpture purchased by the Museum of Outdoor Art for their Fiddler’s Green site in Englewood, Colorado this past year. (Figures 1 & 2) Where the Microsoft commission was designed from the ground up for the site it now occupies, Estacas Large was enlarged from a similar design shown as part of Santa Barbara’s State of the Art public sculpture program in 2006. It measures 170 inches tall by 84 inches wide by 12 inches deep.

FIG. 2

FIG. 3

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