2014

Initially, the world came to know Seward Johnson through his sculptural commentary on day-to-day life. He engages us through the hyper-realistic bronzes of this Celebrating the Familiar series, which act as a mirror for us all. The works echo our myriad tasks and activities, catching our eye and calling attention to small pleasures and encounters. If you look at the open page of the newspaper which the man is reading you will find a gently ironic comment on Johnson’s work: "But is it art?" Johnson writes of his work: "My art is an imitation of life. [The sculptures] do many things; they can warm up … a park or public space and they invite people to come into that space, so that they don’t feel quite alone. They also make good neighbors – they don’t make a lot of noise. Realism has the capacity to reach everyone; there is no age barrier, no culture barrier. As the breadth of communication expands, so does the potency of a particular work."

The Newspaper Reader, a life-scale bronze sculpture of a man reading a newspaper on a bench, was cast by Seward Johnson in 1987. It is was one Johnson’s firsts. Johnson was working on the original design when the Watergate scandal became headline news, so he decided to add the famous New York Times edition which announced "NIXON RESIGNS" to his sculpture.

"Interaction," a life-scale bronze sculpture of a man and woman catching a moment of peace, was cast by Seward Johnson in 1982. Are they lovers? Their body language suggests that they are especially interested in what each other has to say.

"Interaction," a life-scale bronze sculpture of a man and woman catching a moment of peace, was cast by Seward Johnson in 1982.

The official name of this sculpture is "A Memorable Date."

With apologies to the band of that name!

"Southern Star" is a welded steel sculpture made in 1989 by the American artist Joel Perlman. It demonstrates Perlman’s "truth to materials." According to the artist, "metal should look and act like metal." The story behind the conception and construction of ‘Southern Star’ reveals his exploratory process of creation. Although Perlman does very few drawings while working on a piece, "Southern Star" began with a small Styrofoam model, which was then cast in bronze. After casting the model, Perlman made this ten-foot steel version. The diamond-like shape of the sculpture expands upwards from a narrow base and culminates in an open abstract crystalline construction that seems to defy gravity. This piece served as the inspiration for Perlman’s "Great Southern Star," fabricated in aluminum for exhibit in the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art’s Rotunda Gallery, University of Florida.