Bronze Pour Warms Winter Exhibition @ Vangaurd Services

Visit Founders-Sculptors & Metal Performers" at New Gallery

Feb. 15, 2012

7:19 p.m.

<o:p> </o:p> A brand new venue named The Gallery at Vanguard celebrated with a Grand Opening on a snowy, January Gallery Night. If one missed the opportunity to visit the gallery that weekend, a cold winter Monday was the perfect afternoon to peruse The Gallery at Vanguard.<o:p /> Their inaugural exhibition titled “Founders-Sculptors & Metal Performers” features a wide range of artists that have used the facility since its inception. There are 21 artists who present a variety of decorative and functional work with 90 percent of the exhibition being cast at Vanguard over the years which represents the great variety of art and techniques the services offer. <o:p /> Craftsman here assist artists in “casting” and fabricating bronze and metal works for their individually designed art. Highly technical equipment, qualities and skills are necessary to bring to life an artist's drawing of an object to the actual bronze work of art, with numerous steps along the way. Pouring the bronze that will be cast, often in multiple pieces depending on the size of the work, is only one of them. <o:p /> In this exhibition there are miniature works from Lois Johnson, who cast three small bowls with pierced designs, to the larger than life creatures designed by Jeremy Wolf. His monumental beaver and otter were designed for an installation in a West Bend park and cast in several pieces, which then need to be seamlessly pieced together. <o:p /> Guest artist Cindy Rust Saiia, a former Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design Student, exhibits her 2-dimensional work in one smaller room of the gallery. The intricate, almost primitive like designs were crafted from torch cut steel that casts shadows through the designs on the walls behind them. <o:p /> Another artist in the gallery, Al Davis, is completely self-taught. He sent a wood model of his titled African Story Board from South Carolina, a piece carved when when he sat outside a drugstore in a small rural town. Originally he had connected with the late George McCormick, a beloved Milwaukee self taught artist, who had worked at Vanguard. Davis\' tall, thin sculpture references contemporary and primal aesthetics with engaging warmth despite the cool metal elements. <o:p /> Owner Beth Sahagian-Allsopp exhibits her own work from an early period, although her art nods toward more conceptual than representational forms. When discussing Vanguard Sculpture Services, she sadly states she has not had the time to pursue her own work because she devotes so much time to directing the multi-step process to a bronze pours and castings for other artists.<o:p /> While this exhibition closes February 17 with a formal reception from 6:00-9:00 p.m., Vanguard Sculpture Services will be planning a bronze pour for that evening, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Or whenever the molten iron reaches prime temperatures of several thousand degrees. To observe the bubbling orange liquid flowing from a huge pot into a mold can be exhilarating and will warm any February evening while giving insight into a time consuming and age old process to sculpture. Afterwards, there will be plenty of time to ask questions and view the exhibition with a greater understanding to how these artworks come into existence.. Other exhibits will be planned at The Gallery at Vanguard, although one will need to wait for Summer Gallery Night in July before the next formal exhibition on the exquisite art of cast sculpture.  The Gallery at Vanguard presents “Founders-Sculptors & Metal Performers” at Vanguard Sculpture Service (3374 West Hopkins) through February with a closing reception on Friday, February 17, from 6:00-9:00 p.m. that features an actual a bronze pour. <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p />

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