Tucson Museum of Art: "Paint on Metal"
I received this press release and found it interesting. The author, Peter Reginato, sent a web site to check out another of his works as well: Small Dots. Paint on Metal: Modern and Contemporary Explorations and Discoveries
January 29 through May 1, 2005
Tucson Museum of Art
140 N. Main Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85701
520.624.2333
January,, 2005 –Tucson, AZ In an extraordinary exhibition at the Tucson Museum of Art, the works in Paint on Metal: Modern and Contemporary Explorations and Discoveries bring
together modern and contemporary artists working with traditional
painting and sculptural techniques, each with a common bond—the use of
metal as the canvas or the form upon which color is applied in a
symbiotic melding of surface and substrate. Artists using such metals
as aluminum, copper, brass, and tin do so for a variety of reasons—the
qualities of light inherent in the material; the stable, smooth surface
upon which to apply paint; and the ability of the material to be
manipulated into a number of forms. The end result is visually
compelling and conceptually varied.
The use of polychrome metal in two and three dimensions harkens
back to ancient Roman times, when cast bronze figurative sculptures
were painted in realistic tones. During the Renaissance and the
Baroque periods in Europe, artists painted on copper, utilizing the
reflective qualities inherent in the metal to accentuate a sense of
spiritual luminescence in their two-dimensional works. Since colonial
times, Latin American retablos have been painted on tin, as much for
the availability of the material as the qualities that provide a smooth
surface. Secular folk artists, too, have long used the material,
recycling tin and aluminum cans and other metals to create whimsical,
colorful works made possible by the combination of lively paint on the
metal.
Artists such as Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, and David Smith
experimented with painted metal forms and surfaces, resulting in a
variety of colorful, intriguing works of art. Some of the most
energetic works came about in the 1970s. At that time Nancy Graves
first painted her lively sculptures, Frank Stella formed massive
painted wall pieces using honeycomb aluminum developed for the aviation
industry, and John Chamberlain boldly painted crushed automobile parts.
Their efforts encouraged new generations to experiment with color and
surface. In the last ten years, a small number of influential artists,
with the support of Black River Prints, a sub-division of Northern
Engraving (an aluminum surface manufacturing business in the automobile
industry) have created editions of works on aluminum using anodizing
and lithography processes. Other artists throughout the country have
made their own contributions to the marriage of metal and paint,
revealing similarities of style and distinct departures.
Curated by Julie Sasse, TMA’s Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Paint on Metal
features more than 70 pieces of both modern and contemporary works in
two and three dimensions. They reveal a range of approaches from
austere minimalism to lively expressionism for an intriguing look at
art and the methods and materials that inspire creativity. Some of the
artists included in this original exhibition are Joan Miró, Frank
Stella, Alexander Calder, Robert Rauschenberg, John Chamberlain and
Peter Reginato.
