Unstable In Cubis Xxvi Smith example essay topic

David Smith, born in 1906 in Decatur, Indiana; originally learned to weld steel in a Studebaker factory before moving to New York where he then began to study art. David Smith is mostly know and associated with abstract expression; also, being one of the first contributors to Modern art by paving the way in welding steel sculptures by transforming the standard industrial method of molding steel into creative art. Although, he created many abstract paintings, his contemplation of the flatness in the work area for painting lead him to project his painting into three dimensional welded sculptures in the early 1930's. [Slate, Geo sites.] I consider David Smith's work to be eccentric, because his work consisted of many different objects. For example, steel, silver, bronze, wood, and even coral from which he picked from the ocean in his work. [slate.] Dave Smith's sculptures varied in size, but the majority was large, some of his sculptures serve as monuments in many places, and the workspace needed to create his sculptures were factories, warehouses and the outdoors. [npg.] Dave Smith completed 28 works in his last series of monumental abstract structures, the Cubis, before his death in May 1965.

Smith believed that steel offered unique qualities because of its economical ability to be created into different forms unlike any other material. Smith further believed that since the metal possessed little art history, what associations metal did possess are of this century: power, structure, movement, progress, suspension, destruction, brutality. [guggenheimer.] David Smith American, 1906-1965 Cubi XXVI, 1965 steel Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund 1978.14. Some of the Cubis are vaguely figural, while others, such as Cubi XXVII, suggest architecture. This example is one of three Cubis usually referred to as "Gates" (although Smith called them "arches"), which rise like giant rudimentary doorways framing a central void.

By counterbalancing a cylinder that appears to rest precariously on edge with two small tilted blocks that look equally unstable. [guggenheimer.] In Cubis XXVI Smith highlights the possible force obtained through the welding method. The Cubis XXVI crafted, assembled and polished by the artist was meant to rely on the reflective power of light in order to express the dynamic equilibrium between the geometrical components and upward and outward thrust of its composition. [guggenheimer.] Two Circle Sentinel, 1961 Stainless steel, 86 x 371/4 x 15 3/4 inches (left side) Two Circle Sentinel exhibits the mastery and delicacy that Smith brought to his later steel constructions. He began to use burnished stainless steel in isolated examples in the 1940's, but it became his preferred medium only in the late 1950's. The image of the sentinel, or "watcher", was a theme that fascinated Smith. [misterluke.] The image of the sentential almost resembles a human warrior gatekeeper. The anatomical references are handled with grace and wit: the open circle that crowns the work can be read as either a head or an eye; the lower circle evokes the curve of a feminine breast or hip.

The various planes of the figure capture light and shadow, and each facet of the burnished surface is immediately responsive to every nuance of illumination. The artist later commented on this series, "They have an odd atmosphere of grandeur and, at the same time, delight". Created for out-of-doors installation, Two Circle Sentinel was placed first on a hillside by Smith at his farm in Bolton Landing, New York. In the Cullen Sculpture Garden, it is one of the first works that greets the visitor entering through the Bisson net Street gate [misterluke.] David Smith, who was influenced by Cubism, Constructivism, and Surrealism allowed a lot of his monumental steel and iron sculptures' characters and forms to continue his free-flowing and unstructured approach from the beginning to the end of his career. Work Cited: Geocities. 04 Oct. 2003; web Guggenheim collection.

08 Oct. 2003; web Misterluke. 08 Oct. 2003; web Npg. 11 Oct. 2003; web Slate. 06 Oct. 2003; web.