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The Judson Gallery of Contemporary and Traditional Art MAX DeMOSS: BRONZE SCULPTURE Opening: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2004, 4 – 6 P.M. Exhibition Continues: Monday, September 20, 2004
ABOUT THE ARTIST AND HIS BRONZE SCULPTURE: A Southern California native, Max DeMoss was educated at Claremont Graduate School. Early appreciation of Greek and Roman bronze sculpture and the lost wax process of production became inspiration for DeMoss and throughout his career his sculpture has echoed his early affinity for the classical aesthetic. Working in cast bronze his subject matter ranges from the figure to allegory, from narrative to abstract, from small and medium sizes, to the grand and monumental. His unique approach to bronze casting is characterized by his engagement in every step of the creative process from carving in wax at the inception to completion, including casting his own work at his large studio and on-site foundry with a crew of experienced and devoted assistance who labor with him. To watch this labor intensive process is to witness the orchestration of humans assuming different functional roles, bonded for a purpose, moving through and operating space relationships with dangerous yet seductive materials, in order to bring a creative objective into being under the direction of the artist. The sculptures therefore reflect technical mastery gained from a study and refinement over three decades of hands-on work with the lost wax bronze casting process. In contemporary terms this process of creation is visible in the finished product, whether figurative or abstract, in that the look of the work in its materials is specifically made to look organic and sensual. The work also incorporates breakaway seams, where visible mass is debunked as hollow shell and form shaped like a skin over emptiness, can suggest either decomposition or creation. Because sculpture displaces space and exists for the most part in mass and volume, light is considered as a separate characteristic, unlike painters who depict it, sculpture incorporates it. For DeMoss a variety of different color bright and dull bronze patinas and/or an application of silver are combined on the surface, therefore light becomes an animating force reflective from the sculptural surfaces. In totality his work visually depicts in concretized space ephemeral motion and/or emotion which transforms the cold strictness of bronze. In content his works present abstract shapes combined with granite for site specific civic or private exteriors or animals that leap and gambol through space. For interiors human figures are sensual and reach for romantic notions and/or states of uplift. DeMoss in part does commissioned work and specializes in sculptural work for public institutions as well as sacred spaces. For public institutions examples are “Arc of the Kick” a bronze on granite for the Olympic Club, San Francisco and “Platter No. 11” for Thomas P. Cox Architects, Inc., Irvine, CA. Examples for sacred spaces are interior art for St. Jean Vianney, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, his most recent being the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angeles, Los Angeles. That commission included the bronze Tabernacle, Tabernacle Lamp, and dedication wall Candleholders. Of these the twelve wall candle holding sconces, each unique, depict emotion-stirring bronze angels, with gestures that send robes flowing, wings shimmering, and incorporate warm human expressions such as some sing robustly, others display human qualities of wonder, power, joy, merriment, comforting protection, acceptance and importantly spiritual feelings. He has exhibited in galleries throughout the United States, primarily in California and is frequently commissioned to sculpt for indoor and outdoor, private and public spaces. His work is in public and private collections and spaces in California such as Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Newport Beach as well as Scottsdale, Arizona and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. |
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This exhibition of the bronze work of the sculptor Max DeMoss is comprehensive in that it will include most aspects of the artist’s thematic work, both secular and sacred, in all scales, as well as works for indoors and outdoors. Works similar to his commissioned angel sconces for the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angeles in Los Angeles will be included, some on large granite bases, others scaled as candleholders. There will be four large outdoor bronzes situated within Judson Studios property. DeMoss is unique in having his own bronze foundry at his studio therefore examples of his process of bronze casting will be exhibited. 