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John Newman was given a one-person show at Grounds For Sculpture in the spring of 1998 in the Domestic Arts Building. Installed on the mezzanine were a number of sculptures illustrating the artist’s inventiveness and his quest to explore beyond the boundaries of traditional materials. The sculptures were complemented by works on paper: sketches, large vibrant drawings in colored pencil and chalk, and prints. The six linocuts, Second Thoughts I-VI, were produced in collaboration with Tyler Graphics, Ltd., in 1995. Some of the other pieces--three maquettes and a collection of fifteen sketches--related directly to Skyhook, a major work installed in the park. Thematically, the works shared references to abstract organic, visceral forms. The presentations, especially of the three dimensional pieces, indicated Newman’s focused attention on structure and detail, reminding one of scientific models. ummarily, the works represented the inquisitive mind of an artist with interests in science, philosophy, and art history.
Skyhook, standing an impressive twenty-feet high, was commissioned for Grounds For Sculpture and made at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture in 1998. It has become a signature work in the park. The aesthetically pleasing organic curves of the s-shaped “hook” and surrounding bit of “sky” merge with high-tech materials and structure. Stones fill the bottom half of the S, serving as weights, while the hovering form, in a further play of weight and balance, is tethered to the ground by a telephone pole and cables.
Additionally, Newman’s piece On a Yellow Box can be seen at a key intersection near the Hamilton Rail Station as part of Grounds For Sculpture’s public art program, Sculpture Along the Way.
Born in Flushing, New York in 1952, Newman moved to New York City in the early 1970’s. As a result, Newman came of age surrounded by not only a heightened political and cultural climate, but he was responsive to the various movements in art--Minimalism, Arte Povera, and Conceptual Art. Newman began his formal art education in 1972 with an independent study program at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. He attended Oberlin College in Ohio in 1973, and later, received an MFA from Yale University School of Art in 1975. From 1992 to 1998, Newman was the Director of Sculpture at his graduate alma mater. He continues to live and work in New York City.
Newman’s works are featured in numerous museums and public collections including the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Austria; The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City; and the National Gallery of Berlin, Germany. His sculptural oeuvre spans 29 years of solo exhibitions, group shows, and commissions.
Other works by John Newman on view as part of Grounds For Sculpture's Sculpture Along the Way:
On a Yellow Box, 2002
stone, steel, aluminum, fiberglass, steel screen
Courtesy of The Sculpture Foundation, Inc.
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Skyhook, 1998
steel, stone, epoxy foam, resin, cable, wood, paint
240” x 300” x 156”
Courtesy of The Sculpture Foundation, Inc.
Photo: Malgorzata Mosiek |
