Visit the “sculptureWALK” at Jack London Village | 14301 Arnold Dr | Glen Ellen, CA 95442 707-933-1300 | [email protected] www.sculpturesite.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media contact: Brigitte Micmacker Phone: 707-933-1300 Email: [email protected] High-resolution images available upon request. Sculpturesite Gallery Presents on Sculpturesite.com: STEVE TOBIN – Roots November 4th, 2019 – January 3rd, 2020 We are delighted to present an exclusive online exhibition of 15 Roots by world renowned sculptor Steve Tobin. 14 Steelroots from 5’ to over 40’ tall and an installation of two monumental Bronze Roots exemplify the breath of interpretation that Tobin gives to one of the most ubiquitous bits of the natural world. From the highly detailed bronze casts taken from actual tree roots to the sinuous abstractions in bright yellow, red, black or white that jut impossibly high into the sky; from the intertwined triads that rest majestically in balance to the pairs of anthropomorphic Dancing Roots, each Root sculpture is yet another grand homage to nature. “I like the metaphors of the roots”, says Tobin who has long found inspiration in natural objects and phenomena, “connectedness, unseen power, communities, families, networks all coming together for a shared purpose… any person in any time period can draw metaphors from the roots”. Tobin was trained in mathematics and he has always pushed the physical boundaries of the sculptural materials he chose to work with: he made blown glass pieces too tall to stand (but they finally stood); he created 40’ tall glass waterfalls; he made his huge clay sculptures explode, revealing geode-like brightly colored glass inside. And again and again, he went back to nature, to take molds of giant termite hills in Ghana, cast into bronze sculptures as high as 20’, or of the forest floors to make his Earth Bronzes. Probably the sculpture that gave Tobin the most notoriety is his Trinity Root, installed at Trinity Church in lower Manhattan in 2005. Created from the roots of the historic sycamore tree that protected St Paul’s Chapel during the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11/2001, it was years in the making. Tobin, who funded the project by mortgaging his home (he and his crew donated 20,000 hours of labor), was certainly gratified when the sculpture became an instant iconic success with visitors. There is a pair of Bronze Roots made in much the same way in this show. Tobin has since turned to large steel pipes to create his Steelroots. They are beyond monumental, and extremely labor intensive. “I put two pipes together and at that point, it is plumbing”, said Tobin. “What makes the sculpture is the joint. It takes one man one month to do each joint.” “In the tradition of Stonehenge, the Pyramids and Easter Island, the largest scale that was achievable at that time, my worship is nature, and I want to create the grandest scale that I can.” Celebrated art critic Donald Kuspit visited Tobin’s studio in Quakertown, PA, and wrote an extensive essay titled “Steve Tobin’s Creativity”. He ends with these words: “Just as Tobin renews art by rooting it in nature, so he renews nature by revealing its inherent artistry, which is dialectically mathematical. Its mathematics and aesthetics are one... Mathematics is the human art by which nature is best comprehended, and the best way to immerse oneself in its depths. Clearly Tobin’s study of mathematics prepared him to be an artist, for it serves and stimulates his creative relationship to nature.” Steve Tobin’s work has been extensively featured in exhibitions in North America, in Europe and in Asia. His works can be found in prestigious museum, corporate, private and public collections worldwide. He appears in over 70 media stories, including major feature stories in the Smithsonian Magazine, Newsweek, National Geographic Magazine, New York Times, Wall street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, People Magazine, Sculpture Magazine, Town and Country Magazine, Huffington Post, CNN, PBS, to name a few. Several videos have been made about Steve Tobin’s work. We found this State of the Arts episode Steel Roots from PBS especially fascinating and hope you enjoy watching it. https://youtu.be/mZYjnkqBA7w About Sculpturesite Gallery: Sculpturesite Gallery began in Berkeley as A New Leaf Gallery 29 years ago, and it soon became Northern California’s premier sculpture gallery. After 15 years in Berkeley, five years in the Museum District of San Francisco, a decade at Cornerstone Sonoma, and finally three years at Jack London Village in Glen Ellen, Sonoma County, the brainchild of husband and wife team Brigitte Micmacker and John Denning is now focusing on its extensive website, www.sculpturesite.com, in addition to maintaining an active program at its outdoor exhibition: the sculptureWALK at Jack London Village, CA. Phone: 707-933-1300 Email: [email protected] Website: www.sculpturesite.com --END-- .