project overview
Artist Bruce M. Sherman commissioned Powerhouse Arts to fabricate a series of ceramic sculptures for a new body of work entitled Infinite Columns. The works reference Brancusi’s Infinite Column and assert a connection between the earth and the celestial realm in their prominent verticality.
Sherman engaged Powerhouse Arts with the artwork concept that was translated into a paper prototype of the sculptures, from which the ceramic team calculated the necessary aspect-ratio to achieve the artist’s intended scale. The team produced custom molds to achieve precise pyramidal sculptures to be assembled, as a modular unit, stacked atop one another to achieve varying heights.
The columns are incised with eyes, a leitmotif in Sherman’s work that implies the works are animate and self-aware, further reinforcing the sentient qualities of his work. The eyes are hand-rendered, an intentional juxtaposition against the rigid geometry and precise angles of the columns.
The works were delivered to the artist in a bisque-fired state, from which he applies bespoke glazes and finishes in his studio. They are intended to be exhibited both as singular columns and in groupings of various heights, creating a synergy between the upward-reaching forms.
The works were exhibited in summer 2020 at Drive-by-Art exhibition at South Fork, Long Island, and are included in the exhibition MASS ORNAMENT: Pleasure, Play, and What Lies Beneath, curated by Alison M. Gingeras, at South Etna Montauk, NY.
artist biography
Bruce M. Sherman is a New York-based ceramic artist whose anthropomorphic sculptures combine figuration and abstraction in whimsical, totemic arrangements. A former dentist who turned to art-making as a vocation in the 1960s-70s, Sherman was involved in the Society for Experimental Studies. His hand-thrown works join flat planes and cylinders with stylized faces, incorporating plants, hands, feet, and eyes as symbols of rebirth, renewal, and consciousness. Influenced by Zen Buddhism, Sherman describes working in clay as "almost like a way of praying." His work has been exhibited in solo shows at Kaufmann Repetto (Milan), South Willard Gallery (Los Angeles), White Columns (New York), Sorry We're Closed Gallery (Brussels), and Nicelle Beauchene Gallery (New York), as well as group exhibitions internationally. Sherman lives and works in New York City.
