Butterfield show

[iron ant]

Deborah Butterfield will be showing at the Hunter Musuem,Chattanoga,TN this weekend.I am looking forward to her slide show,and reception at the Musuem on Friday.I was really infuenced by her work in 94,and right now I am sculpting six stainless horses,15 works total, for a show at the Booth Western Art Musuem,April 22 06.I hope I get a chance to shake her tail,opps I mane her hand..........IA

[JAZ]

Hi iron ant,
Congratulations on your show! That's awesome. I hope it works out well for you. It certainly sounds like a great opprotunity.
I wish the Butterfield show was closer. One of her pieces is in downtown Boston and I've seen others at various sculpture parks. Meeting her would be cool.
Other successful animal-related artists are Wendy Klemperer (elk, hounds, dying horses, etc. sort of edgy www.wendyklemperer.com) and Kitty Wales (sharks, feral goats, birds of prey). Both use found materials. Both are provocative.
Good luck.
JAZ

[rderr.com]

"...Both are provocative.
Good luck.
JAZ
__________________
creation as a profession...


Provocative and HOW!!! Thanks Jaz for the links. I've often wondered who did the group of Elk and Cat here in Houston on the Bayou.

Best for the New Year
Robert

[JAZ]

It's aggravating when public art has no signage naming the sculptor. Argh! Wndy had an elk in a show at the litle sculpture park in Newburyport that I coordinatd for it's first two years and the piece was purchased by the city through the efforts of a seven year old boy. They installed nest to it a nice bronze and stone sign that's permanent. Houston should do the same.
Wendy's pretty cool and boy she sure gets around with her pickup loaded with gear, compressor and buzz box. I had a thank you dinner at my house after the opening reception for the artists, donors, et al and Wendy wore a cute tight, short sun dress. Quite a contrast to installation day. She's really super.
Kitty Wales has some of her sharks, made out of old appliance metal, swimming above head height in the woods at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA. That installation is spooky.
JAZ

[iron ant]

Jaz,Wow Wendy,s fallen horse is intense.I must be way to tame for the world these days?Scale was impressive to boot.Fabricating horses out of stainless and polishing ,and buffing surfaces does have it chalanges for my style of work,but thats what makes us all unige though.....IA

[JAZ]

Jaz,Wow Wendy,s fallen horse is intense.I must be way to tame for the world these days?Scale was impressive to boot.Fabricating horses out of stainless and polishing ,and buffing surfaces does have it chalanges for my style of work,but thats what makes us all unige though.....IA

Very true, IA. I suggested those two artists to you becasue you all deal with animals as subject matter, but in very different ways. Most of Wendy's have an edge of danger - even the elk and deer which often have very sharp antlers - which is obvious especially in her chain hounds that look like they're tearing through a wall at you ready to rip you to shreds. (My brother had a dog like that once. It was killed by a truck and I shed not a tear.) Like yours, they are drawings n space, but hers are references to reuse (or recycling?) and the man made world of industrial materials where yours are elegant and clean like show horses or race horses - the ideal equine image. Kitty Wales' works are solid, not drawings and she aims to characterize each species with its natural characteristics. Like Wendy she reuses discarded materials, but is more open about what they are. Her feral goats are made of strips of old tires, her lammergeier is made from stainless tableware, the sharks are made of the skins of old washing machines and refrigerators.
Deborah Butterfield has also used a range of matrials like driftwood, etc, then many of hers are cast in bronze, giving them yet another feel.
All three of these women have stayed very faithful to the natural form of each of their animals.
Yours are made from new materials and polished to give them a sense of purity. They are also somewhat stylized, giving them your own voice.
The more you think about it, the more differences you can see and that's what makes art interesting.
JAZ

[iron ant]

Jaz,I like your view of everybodys work.Although, I never showed or raced horses,my sister used to show westwern pleasure arabian horses on the national level,in Scotsdale AZ.I never looked at my work that way,but I will thanks.Also ,I was blown away in Butterfields article in Sculpture Mag when she said it took twenty people several months to make one horse,wow.She also did not sugar coat the physical strain sculpting can hammer on ones body.What is funny is I was getting away from making horses,but thru commisions and shows that is the work people wanted, it has been awhile sence I built more than one at a time,this series has renewed my enthusiasium and motivation,unfortunetly though I am racing the clock...freking artist life at times I guess..............IA

[Merlion]

I dig out this very old thread. This announcement is about an exhibition of Deborah Butterfield's metal horses at the Neveda Museum of Art at Reno.

Exhibition at the NMA: Deborah Butterfield: Horses (http://www.nevadaart.org/exhibitions/exhibition_display.php?id=83)

June 16, 2007 - September 23, 2007

For over 20 years, Montana sculptor Deborah Butterfield has transformed scrap metal, discarded wood, and bronze into larger-than-life sculptures of the horse that are breathtakingly beautiful and captivating to encounter. Her remarkably prolonged and disciplined focus on the horse—a significant motif in Western art and culture—has sustained her throughout her artistic career.

http://www.nevadaart.org/assets/exhibit/Palma-1990.jpg

Deborah Butterfield: Horses offers a rare opportunity to view 14 of this internationally acclaimed artist’s graceful works in a single exhibition. Butterfield’s sculpture epitomizes her enduring commitment to exploring the poetic relationship between humans and the natural world. ....

And here is an online news story about the exhibition.

Metal horse sculpture exhibit opens (http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070616/NEWS10/706160334/1016/NEWS)

6/16/2007, When Deborah Butterfield enrolled at the University of California, Davis in the late 1960s, she couldn't decide on a major.

That made Butterfield similar to a lot of undergraduates, except her choices were a bit unusual. Veterinary medicine. Art.

Butterfield grew up in San Diego around horses. She liked caring for animals. She also enjoyed sculpting them. Finally, art won.

Some of Butterfield's best, 14 large-scale sculptures of horses, will be exhibited this summer at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, starting today.

At Davis, Butterfield decided on art. But she also decided to stick with animals.

"I was embarrassed to make horses," Butterfield, who lives in Bozeman, Mont., said of her early days as an art student. "I was in this great art school. Making horses was a dumb grade school thing to do."

Now, it's what Butterfield is famous for.

"She's known for larger than life sculptures that really capture the spirit and grace of very gentle animals," said Ann Wolfe, the art museum's curator. "Many of the sculptures tower above your head as you walk by."

One of Butterfield's horses measures 10 feet, 10 inches long, 6 feet, 10 inches high and 2 feet, 8 inches wide. Another is 12 feet, 7 inches long, 4 feet, 6 inches high and 4 feet, 2 inches wide. One of the sculptures weighs 2,600 pounds.....

[Merlion]

Although this metal horse exhibition is at Nevada, it should still be of great interest to Iron Ant from Georgia. He may find it worth while to drive across the country to see it.

(I am also trying to kick the advert spam posting from appearing on top. :( )

[iron ant]

Thanks Merlion,and if I go I am hauling a herd of stainless steeds with me,but their booked until easrly 08.I believe this is the same show I saw at the hunter,which was ausome.I enjoyed meeting Deborah,although I did not say anything about her inspiring me to do my series of horses in my style of sculpture.She has a huge following,as the museum was packed the day she was there to give a slide show,but she gave an impov. gallery speach instead.I was so fired up I went home to work on my current traveling exhibit,and by weekends end I realized my horse was way to big to fit in the 26 foot truck as required.I had to cut it down twice,but it is still 9'x14' put together....IA

[evaldart]

She has a real knack for making the scrap "relax". It does not like to do this. A unique ability.

[iron ant]

Great observation,her early steel horses looked so true to form with very few parts, that by themself ,would ever be though of as parts fo a horse.Her scale in real life is nothing like the book,they are narrow,and tall,and just much larger then you would think.Her bronzes are nice,and a lot of museums collect them,but I love her steel horses.

[ironman]

Hi, I stumbled upon a show of her work in the Tucson Museum of Art and to say the least, I was very impressed.
She has a great eye for using the scrap metal and my favorites are the horses made out of those large letters that she's gotten from signs.
Yeah Ant, the bronzes are nice but it's something about them that gives them a different feel than the scrap steel pieces. Is it that they appear more serious as opposed to the playfulness of the steel pieces?
When you get right down to it, there is a sense of foreboding to all the horses which I found odd and in total opposition to the playfulness of the scrap metal arrangements.
I think that's it, the sense of foreboding coupled with those wonderfully almost playful arrangements of the scrap metal don't quite fit with each other so they keep you on your toes and more engaged with the work.
While the bronzes are more homogeneous, more beautiful in the sense of form to feeling. they don't throw you like the dichotomy of the scrap metal pieces do.
Doesn't she get tired of making horses?
Oh yeah, Evaldart, that is a great observation!
Have a great day,
Jeff

[evaldart]

Actually the bronzes don't catch my eye at all - almost as if they were done by someone else.
I recall seeing this one at a show back in the eighties - and I followed her work casually ever since.
Right Ironman, I'd be damn tired of the horses too - theres ability there that I would love to see used on other subjects. Guess It worked for her though.
Suppose every figure sculptor should tackle a horse or two in his career. Or a Centaur, yes!

[ironman]

Hi, There is still that odd sense of foreboding that I get when looking at those horses, can't quite put my finger on it, but it's there.
It's like "Death Stalks the Butterfield Horses".
Her horses are NOT HAPPY!!!!!!
Yeah Evaldart, thet's what I was getting at, "there's ability there that I'd love to see used on other subjects."
I guess she's a "one trick pony!".LOL
Have a great day,
Jeff

[iron ant]

One trick poney?She has hundreds in her book,and is in major collections all over the world.I see no need for her to stop what has been an amazing series starting from mud and sticks to steel,to bronze.You did have a good observation though,at her Museum talk she taked about horses being an animal of pray,and sleeping standing up,and as a women she felt the same feeling,and as a horse person and sculptor she put it all together.If you had people waiting to pay several hundred grand a pop,I am sure you would just walk away from what you are known for,that would be baffeling to me.I look forward to seeing where her series goes next after the bronze chapter,but we will have to wait and see...................IA

[fritchie]

... Suppose every figure sculptor should tackle a horse or two in his career. Or a Centaur, yes!

The art school where I did most of my sculpture studies - the one that actually got me started working in this mode after years in chemistry-related work, is owned by very wealthy people, and they also have a nearby semi-rural residence with a collection of exotic pets of a sort - a personal zoo. Mostly it's birds.

In any case, every so often, they would open that property to people who might paint or sculpt things there. Most of the few sculptors who took advantage sculpted a racehorse that was very docile and was posed each day by a trainer, but there also was a spider monkey allowed to roam with a very long leash throughout or near a large oak tree. The leash probably was 40 - 50 feet long, and the monkey was good at keeping it away from obstacles, so it could scoot through the branches and down to the ground.

I worked on that monkey, in oil-based clay, probably for 6 - 8 visits, with many photographs in telescopic closeup to use back at the studio, but I never completed it to any satisfactory degree. I even got an anatomy book, with skeletal and muscle views of at least a similar simian, but I could not get the image I wanted. Pose yes, with arms, tail and legs grasping small branches, but overall I never was satisfied.

To my mind, this illustrated the degree to which sculpture is conceptual and not a result of direct visual experience. Doubtless, others would not have the same problem, and many probably would mimic the new animal fairly easily, but it's clear to me I'm focussed solely and deeply on the human figure, and I'm just not interested enough in anything else to transform it to sculpture in my own mind.

Maybe that's her approach with horses???

[evaldart]

If I didn't know that she liked western stuff and equestrian stuff so much I would have no problem with the horse obsession. Artists who spend their lives considering the HUMAN figure are unbound because they are one - self exploration, narrative, myth...commentary on the self-conscious species is far less limited than animal themes.
I do not want to own a gorilla but I want to do a body of work about King Kong... I will probably stop after a year or a dozen works, whichever comes first...move on to fresh things.

[fritchie]

You're right, evaldart. I just couldn't see wasting more time on a monkey. The whole time, I was seeing at it as a strange sort of little man.

[iron ant]

I believe she is into fine show horses,and the whole judging of horses and there form and being bred and worked to be champions.I do not see the big problem that she has stuck with here passion for the horse,and she did not cave in to social art presures to create something that was not natural for her to create.I say you go girl.I also feel artist tend to criticize the others that have had huge sucess,instead of supporting their vision.Some like bronze turds,some like horses....IA

[Merlion]

I do not want to own a gorilla but I want to do a body of work about King Kong... .
This is not quite a King Kong, but a Queen Quong. :)

[Merlion]

I just couldn't see wasting more time on a monkey. The whole time, I was seeing at it as a strange sort of little man.
I know of a painter, from China, who was well known for his good paintings of monkeys at play. He rears some monkeys and observes them.

[iron ant]

Basically I think the horse conection with her is like the guy with the monkeys.I grew up with horses too,but I did not move to the farm until after art school.My studio was 30 miles away,which in Atlanta was 1.5 hrs each way.I manageed a 70 acer ,10 horses farm for 10 years, and I did it for free.all whyIwas running a full time studio,and I was paying morgage to live there.I did not start sculpting horses until the last year we moved there,as Butterfield really inspired me,and I just purchased Caroline Montagues huge pile of stainless,for 400 dollars,so I built 4 14' horses to start.Now materials and time are a expensive ,so I have to think about it before I nock down a huge steed.This is why I enjoy sculpting horses,I have no more real ones and it brings me back to my old world of many fond memories....eric

[ironman]

Hi, I think it is because of her talent with found objects that both Evaldart and I would like to see her use her ability on other subjects.
I for one don't think that changing ones subject from horses to lets say, non-objective forms is caving in to social art pressures, just the opposite, staying with the horses, which provides a good income and acclaim is caving in to social art pressures.
You said it yourself in post 16, where you talk about "walking away from what you are known for, that would be baffling to me."
I'm sure that it would be hard to change, given the income that she gets from those steeds but doesn't she get bored? Isn't she inquisitive about other means of expression?
I'm sorry that you feel you have to defend her, I DO like her work!
But after a while it's just, ho hum, oh look, another "found object" horse, isn't that nice!
Found object work is, as a career choice ALWAYS suspect to me. That is because it generally is charming and beguiling, not only to the viewer but also to the sculptor.
It's also fairly easy to make and to achieve those charming results, although not on her level.
It's too easy!
Where is the thinking, feeling artist, not just an eye but an inquisitive and creative person? someone who wants to influence her materials instead of having the materials always influence her.
Have a great day,
Jeff

[iron ant]

Jeff,I don't feel like I am defending her,I run into this too because my work is a horse, and not abstarct ,so the hard cores feel we are artistically flat or boring.I work out of passion and experience,which is different for us all.If you ever ownwed or cared for a horse,or watch one fall dead to the ground because you had to put it down,you would understand.Fifteen years later I can still here the thud of a dieing animal hitting the ground.I have had horses that thought they where puppies,and some that tried to stomp your brains out.I have spent months caring for hurt or troubled ones.It goes beyond material,it is personal experience that horse lovers know exactly what I am talking about....IA

[ironman]

Hi Ant, I think that probably goes for any pet, they become part of the family and much loved.
Nobodies saying that you're artistically flat or boring, I know you do other things besides horses.
Have a great day,
Jeff

[iron ant]

Jeff I do,but my horses are what people enjoy the most,usually.When I built the herd a couple of winters ago it was creepy,I had six large horses in my shop,it had been 10 years since I lived on the farm,it was like they where ghost.I can see what you meen about here trying other things,but her passion probally would not be the same.Who knows ahe has a p[lace in Hiwiai,maybe she will do huge fish next?IA

[evaldart]

IA, I too have been a fan of Butterfield for a long time. Indeed her passion for horses has provided her with endless fodder for her art, the subject always being decided upon beforehand. But she is at her best when the work is about the materials, the compositions the subtle arrangements that enhance figuration and implied gravities...the horses are very incidental in these works. She is best when the work does not feel like a homage to the animal, when the passion for the process defeats the passion for the subject.

Ironman, there are things that are "easy" about found object/reclaimed material oriented work; namely that the stuff has had a previous visual importance which gives it a bit of a jumpstart. But we all know that simply piling things up and joining them together makes boring sculpture so the difficult part comes in the transforming of these things into an entity that de-recognizes the stuff its made of, becomes a new thing. This is the hard part, more difficult often than composing geometric shapes. Its real hard to not end up with another pile of junk...so when it works out right it is quite an achievement and quite an eye grabber. Sometimes its about simple arranging like Butterfield or our friend Tirediron and sometimes its about aggressive immersion or manipulation like Stankewicz or Disuvero's older stuff or Lee Tribe or even our hero David Smith who has done all of the above. My approach is to make an event out of the assembly, force it into submission beneath my hands...some turn out better than others.

[ironman]

Hi, Yeah, junk made into more junk is always a possibility, BUT there is a beguiling aspect to found object work that always, in my mind at least, leaves it suspect.
We've all made found-obj work (I think) but most of us, just like the sculptors you mentioned, have grown and gotten beyond it to more challenging work that taps ALL of our being to better express what we want.
Have a great day,
Jeff

[michael]

The organization I used to work for recently hosted a show of Butterfield's work. Prior to that we had John Buck's work (Deborah's husband). Having worked with them installing the show, dined with them, visited their ranch and toured their studios, I have a sincere respect for their vision and the success they have achieved for themselves.

I really raise my glass, however, to their relatively unrecognized assistants, who put in long hours to help ensure the continued success of the Buck-Butterfield legacy. An eye opener to be sure.

Cheers to them all.

---M

[Merlion]

This site has 13 pictures of her horse sculptures. One is shown below. Which city in Neveda is this museum in?

Butterfield Horse Sculptures On Display (http://simplymarvelous.wordpress.com/2007/07/31/butterfield-horse-sculptures-on-display/)

July 31, 2007, The Nevada Museum of Art will be presenting Deborah Butterfield’s “Horses”, on view through September 23, 2007.

“Horses” offers a rare opportunity to view 14 of this internationally acclaimed artist’s graceful works in a single exhibition. .....

http://simplymarvelous.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/4butterfield-1.jpg

For over 20 years, Montana sculptor Deborah Butterfield has transformed scrap metal, discarded wood, and bronze into larger-than-life sculptures of the horse that are breathtakingly beautiful and captivating to encounter.

Her works of equine art are found in galleries around the world. .....