2015 Featured Sculptors
The development of site-specific dance related to the incredible sculptures at Grounds For Sculpture is a cornerstone of The Outlet Dance Project. We are committed to deep explorations of interdisciplinary collaboration and conversation. Below is information about the artists whose work this year's choreographers have been inspired by and are working with.
Linda Fleming
"My works hint at the co-existence of the mundane and the cosmological to create a place where two realities simultaneously exist including the possibility that the past is also present. The structures are diagrams of thought that provide a glimpse of the strangeness beyond the world to which we cling; opening a place where thought becomes tangible, history leaves a trace and information exhales form." ? Linda Fleming Born in 1945 in Pittsburgh, PA, Fleming displayed an aptitude for art at a very early age, and her talents earned Fleming a full scholarship to Carnegie Mellon University in 1963. For Fleming, location is vital to her in creating artwork, and as a result, the artist divides her time between three studios. Her first studio a 40-foot geodesic dome is located in Colorado at Libre- an artist’s community that was founded in 1968. Fleming’s second studio is at Wall Spring in the Smoke Creek Desert in northwestern Nevada, and the third, The Brewery is in Benicia, CA where Fleming assembles most of her large-scale works. Fleming’s works are featured in public and corporate collections and her most recent shows include nebula/Ether/Wisp: Sculpture and Drawings at Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA and Remnants at Lemmons Contemporary in New York City. In 2006, Fleming installed' Dona Benicia’s Mantilla (Envelops the General’s Chair)' at Harbor Walk in Benicia, CA. Since 1986, Fleming has been teaching at the California College of Arts, Oakland, CA. More information on this artist can be found at www.lindaflemingsculpture.com.
Jae Ko
Born in Korea, Ko grew up in Tokyo, Japan and received her BFA from Wako University. Moving to the United States, she attended the Maryland Institute College of Art where she received an MFA. Settling in Washington, DC, Ko’s work steadily gained the attention of curators and galleries in the city and region receiving a Pollock-Krasner grant in 2002 brought even more attention. The Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden added a wall piece to its permanent collection, and Marsha Marteyka Gallery began exhibiting her work in its stable of prominent artists. Soon enough, with her works in several major public and private collections, The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC mounted Ko’s installation of Force of Nature in 2011. The work was created using large curls of brown Kraft paper, akin to the rolled white paper used in her installation of Shiro. Ko has created Force of Nature, Escalante with the same brown paper in the East Gallery. Perhaps one of the greatest honors of Ko’s career so far also took place in 2012 when she was awarded the prestigious Anonymous Was a Woman art award along with eleven other prominent American artists.
John Martini
John Martini creates his sculptures in a Florida studio that was once a movie theater. Recently, his works have been appearing on screen in an MTV production titled 'The Real World: Key West'. As the show is geared towards teenagers and young adults, Martini’s work is reaching a new and larger audience. Another major achievement for Martini is the installation of his monumental 'Head 2 Head' on I-295 as part of The Sculpture Foundation's Sculpture Along the Way program. Martini has shown in many galleries and museums throughout the United States including a one-person exhibition in 2005 titled 'Heads Up?' at Grounds For Sculpture. Primarily residing in Key West, FL for most of the year, the artist also splits his time in Veuxhaulles-Sur-Aube, France.
More information on this artist can be found at www.johnmartini.com.
Peter Woytuk
Born in 1958, Peter Woytuk was introduced to the artistic considerations of architecture by his father. Peter Woytuk, Sr., who took the family on a six-month tour of Europe, concentrating on significant architectural sites. Woytuk went on to major in art at Kenyon College in Ohio, focusing on photography; however, creating welded sculpture captured his interest and upon graduating in 1980, he took an apprenticeship with sculptor Philip Grausman. While working for Grausman, he absorbed a sense of the “convex and concave” form. He also developed the technical knowledge and skills needed to create cast sculpture. By 1986, Woytuk was showing his work in solo exhibitions and has continued to garner attention for his work. In 1998, a commission from the North Carolina Zoological Society resulted in four life-size bronze elephants for the park’s entrance. He is represented by Owings-Dewey Fine Art in Santa Fe, NM; Anne Reed Gallery in Ketchum, ID; and Denise Roberge Gallery in Palm Desert, CA. Woytuk and his wife divide their time between working at their foundry in Thailand and working in Santa Fe, NM.
More information on this artist can be found at www.woytuk.com.
Seward Johnson
“…its easy sometimes to forget the simple things that give us pleasure. If we open our eyes, life is marvelous. The human spirit triumphs, if only for moments in a day. I try to have my work call attention to those moments." -Seward Johnson
Seward Johnson was born in New Jersey in 1930 and subsequently lived in London, Paris, and Bermuda. He graduated from the college preparatory Forman School in Litchfield, Connecticut before attending the University of Maine. Enlisting in the Navy, Johnson spent four years aboard the U.S.S. Gloucester, the only ship hit by enemy fire during the Korean War. Johnson settled in New Jersey to raise a family with his wife and now spends his time in New York City, Nantucket and Key West. Johnson's earliest artistic efforts were in painting but as his aesthetic developed, he gravitated more toward sculpture. Having no formal training beyond a series of classes in Cambridge, MA, his first cast work of sculpture won the Award in Steel Art competition which included 7,000 entries. Now famous worldwide for his life-size bronze figurative sculptures, Seward Johnson's works are exhibited internationally and are included in private collections, museums, and public art collections too numerous to mention. Johnsons body of work consists of three distinct series: the Celebrating the Familiar man on the street works, the collection called Icons Revisited based upon images in the collective unconscious, and the Beyond the Frame series inspired by Impressionist paintings. He has completed a series of over 30 works based on Impressionist and Post- Impressionist masterworks.
“I want my work to disappear into the landscape and then take a viewer by surprise. After he gets over the shock of being fooled, it becomes an emotional discovery. Then he owns the sculpture. People often revisit their favorites. They become like friends." Seward Johnson
In addition to Johnson's head turning sculptures, the artist's generosity of spirit is evident in his many philanthropic endeavors, of which the founding vision for Grounds For Sculpture is one of the most highly regarded. More at www.sewardjohnson.com.
Kevin Lyles
Kevin Lyles has been a professor in the sculpture department at the University of the Rio Grande in Ohio since 1990. In earlier years, he earned his BFA at Abilene Christian University in Texas and MFA from Bradley University, Peoria, IL. Lyles has exhibited his sculptures and drawings in this country at such notable museums as the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art in Ohio; the Mitchell Museum in Mount Vernon, IL, where Lyles was awarded “Best in Show” for his sculpture; and at university campuses in Rio Grande in Ohio and Muncie, Indiana. He has also exhibited his works at art centers in Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas. More information on this artist can be found at www.kevinlyles.com.
Michelle Post
Self-taught New Jersey native Michelle Post recollects her involvement with the visual arts began before 5th grade. A highly skilled painter, sculptor and printmaker, her education in the arts has been formed through associations and apprenticeships with artists she admires. Building on her natural talent and affinity for art, she expanded her skills by seeking out opportunities to work alongside artists who would assist in her artistic growth, from whom she gained both knowledge and expertise. In 1976, she apprenticed with printmaker Stefan Martin to learn the intricate and highly detailed technique of wood engraving. Martin was a resident of Roosevelt, NJ. Created as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal, Roosevelt, NJ was built in the 1930s, conceived as a cooperative farm project. With artist Ben Shahn leading the way, Roosevelt soon developed into an artist’s community. Through her association with Stefan Martin, Post came into contact with other prominent Roosevelt artists, including Bernarda Shahn, David Stone Martin, Jacob Landau and Gregorio Prestopino.
In 1986 Post joined the ranks of the many gifted artists at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture. Here, surrounded by boundless creative energy and many opportunities for personal artistic exploration, her work continued to evolve. Sculpture became her main focus. In 2002, her work at the Johnson Atelier led her into a project that involved carving Styrofoam. The results of this project led to a new discovery for Post, who never considered herself a carver but was intrigued by the results. She continues to explore carving in her work, particularly focusing on heads and busts. While continuing to pursue her artistic career, Post remains an employee of the Seward Johnson Atelier, Inc. as Director of Museum Displays and Installations. More information on this artist can be found at www.michellepost.net.
Glenn Zweygardt
Glenn Zweygardt, born and raised in Kansas, earned his BFA from Whichita State University, KA in 1967. In 1969, he completed his MFA at the Rinehart School of Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. He taught sculpture at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University from1969-2007. Zweygardt has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout North America and in Europe, select examples include the Wichita Museum of Art, Wichita, KS; Shidoni Outdoor Sculpture, Tesuque, NM; Enamel Today der Stadt, Uster, Switzerland; Mitchell Museum Sculpture Outdoors, Mt. Vernon, IL; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY as well as many university collections. His work is included in numerous private and public collections such as the Heubey Fine Arts Academy, Wuhan, China; The Rouse Company, Baltimore, MD; Nelson Rockefeller Collection; Mr. and Mrs, P.I. Berman Collection and many more.
More information on this artist can be found at www.glennzweygardt.com.