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These are not simply beautiful, compelling sculptures, these are life forms that take you through a cognitive search for your own identity. As the human history of perceptions and ideas is a riddle, so are the works of Craig Schaffer. Both grow from nature – the natural proportions and processes that swirl through life and human evolution into your own experiences and conclusions.
He carves Italian marble, casts in bronze, or welds metal plates, following the spiral paths of all living things, growing “in the same reflexive manner as real, complex systems.” All are derived from “fractal forms – the shapes repeating at different scales created by the ongoing processes of life.”
But, although true to natural proportions, these are creative, inventive physical relationships. Nothing is predetermined. It is ultimately just the eye of the artist that governs. Circles, triangles and squares become counter-intuitive constructs that sing their own visual songs. And although the concepts are intellectual, much of the art comes from the pure pleasure of using tools and working with inherently beautiful, exciting materials. Craig revels in the joy of making something – the physical demands of sculpture.
Craig has a BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. He lives and works in the DC metropolitan area and has many large pieces in prominent public and commercial spaces here, and around the world. He is also found in numerous private collections.
The works of Craig Schaffer pull you into his circles of optical surprises. Large or small, they demand your visual attention and curiosity. When you walk around them, every view becomes a new work. Whether placed in a natural or urban environment, each pulls on the essence of its surroundings and your perceptions are changed. Mental and emotional forces are again set in motion to rediscover and renew your own life experiences.
This month his work can be seen at the Gallery at 1111 Pennsylvania Ave NW, in a joint show with painter Ann Marchand. (See At the Galleries). His work can also be seen at www.craigshaffer.com
Jim Magner’s Thoughts on Art
There has to be an Ugly Committee hard at work in the area, especially Northern Virginia. Perhaps it’s called “The Virginia Commission on Aesthetic Diminishment and the Spirit-Crushing Destruction of Visual Harmony.”
Nothing is as monumentally cold, lifeless and aesthetically bankrupt as the I-95 Springfield interchange. This could not possibly be achieved without the dedication and tireless efforts of the aficionados of soulless dead space. Engineers alone could not accomplish such a breathtaking lack of aesthetic life.
Not that the “mixing bowl” doesn’t have rivals. The Wilson Bridge – Rt.1 maze of concrete worms for example: that heart-pounding, dismal gray kaleidoscope of driving doom. In fact, the committee’s overall success rate may be without equal, except perhaps for the Bronx. The exceptional natural beauty that was once the rural outskirts of DC has been gobbled up and regurgitated as visual vomit. Any Rip Van Winkle waking from an extended doze virtually anywhere in Northern Virginia would believe he had died and condemned to an eternity of merit bereft hell.
So what? We need the commerce and we need the roads. What’s the downside… besides a little ugliness?
Scientists in Britain have studied how visual images affect your mental state. They had people watch movie clips of both highway and beach scenes against a sound track that had an identical mix of crashing waves and speeding cars. The area of the brain that monitors emotions was active during the beach scenes – and the people felt tranquility despite the sound. The traffic scenes had the opposite effect.
Our visual cacophony is affecting us in ways we have not understood. Our natural environment is being obliterated and replaced by the most anxiety-producing, emotion-bludgeoning images possible. On top of all the other angst attributable to our high-stakes lifestyle, most of the reassuring surroundings of natural beauty are gone and even efforts to instill our surroundings with man-made beauty and craftsmanship have been seemingly abandoned. It should be renamed, Neurosis Virginia.
At the Museums
The Phillips Collection
1600 21st St. NW
To Jan. 9
The Phillips Collection continues its two parallel exhibits: TruthBeauty: Pictorialism and the Photograph as Art, 1845–1945; and Coburn and the Photographic Portfolio.
Some of the biggest names in photography are featured with over 120 of the “most spectacular photographs in the history of the medium.” Also featured are 16 photographs by Alvin Langdon Coburn (1882–1966), one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. www.phillipscollection.org.
National Gallery of Art
West Building
4th & Constitution Ave. NW
To Jan. 3
The Pre-Raphaelite Lens: British Photography and Painting, 1848–1875, includes some 100 photographs and 20 paintings and watercolors by leading Pre-Raphaelite painters and British photographers. The show demonstrates how these parallel artistic experiences created dialogs and came to influence each other. www.nga.gov.
At the Galleries
“Wrap It Up”
Capitol Hill Art League
545 7th St. SE
Dec. 11 - 22.
CHAL presents “Wrap It Up-The Art of Giving,” the annual all-media Christmas bash. The non-juried show features works by CHAL members who submit ready-to-hang small works. This is artwork that’s ready to purchase and gift-wrapped by CHAL members. As the pieces sell, works held in reserve are put up. Artists receive a 90% commission on the sales. You buy it and they “wrap it up.” It opens with a reception, Dec. 12, 4-8. These original works sell quickly so don’t miss the fun. www.caphillartleague.org.
“Wally Szyndler, a retrospective”
CITY Gallery
804 H St. NE
Nov. 29- Jan. 1
Gourd sculptor Wally Szyndler’s masks, containers and sculptures will be on display The opening will be held Saturday December 4 from 6-9 p m. Proceeds from the show will go to Melwood, an organization Wally helped found. www.citygallerydc.com
“Universe”
Zenith Gallery
1111 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
To Jan. 28
With “Universe,” at the Gallery at 1111 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Zenith Gallery presents the always joyous and expressive abstract paintings of Anne Marchand and the dynamic sculpture of Craig Schaffer. (See Artist Profile). This is a must-see show, curated by Margery E. Goldberg. www.zenithgallery.com
Jim Magner is a Capitol Hill artist and writer. He can be reached at Artandthe City05@aol.com |
