ROBERT HUDSON: WORKS ON PAPER
Robert Hudson Green Field, 2007 mixed media 47.5” x 35.75”
Robert Hudson Oak Leaf, 2012 mixed media 43” x 31.5”
Robert Hudson Color Spiral, 2015 mixed media 38.5” x 31”
Robert Hudson Tamborine, 2012 mixed media 38.5” x 31”
Robert Hudson Pink and Gray, 1990/1994 mixed media 36.5” x 30.75”
Robert Hudson Yellow Ochre Sphere, 2012 mixed media 43” x 31.5”
Robert Hudson Wrap, 1998 mixed media 38.5” x 31”
Robert Hudson Red and Blue, 2016 mixed media 38.5” x 31”
Robert Hudson Untitled, 2006 mixed media 47” x 35.5”
Robert Hudson Rubbing: With Ship and Bowl mixed media 47” x 35.5”
Robert Hudson Blue Loop mixed media 47” x 35.5”
Robert Hudson Bronze and Lace mixed media 38.5” x 31”
Robert Hudson Color mixed media 43” x 31.5”
Robert Hudson Bonnie Hubbard, 1994 mixed media 49.5” x 50”
Robert Hudson Pink, 2008 mixed media 47.5” x 35.75”
Robert Hudson Red Spiral, 2009 mixed media 38.5” x 31”
Robert Hudson Standing Figure, 2000 mixed media 47.5” x 35.75”
Robert Hudson Red Curve, 2012 mixed media 38.5” x 31”
Robert Hudson Spiral Green and Blue Dots, 2016 mixed media 43” x 31.5”
Robert Hudson 3:43, 2016 mixed media 38.5” x 31”
Robert Hudson Bob, 2000 mixed media 48” x 33.75”
Robert Hudson Ellipse, 1976 mixed media 47” x 35.5”
Robert Hudson Yellow Field, 2008 mixed media 47.5” x 35.75”
Robert Hudson Blue Band, 2000 mixed media 47” x 35.5”
Robert Hudson Spiral with Funnel, 2008 mixed media 42.5” x 30.75”
An archetypal Bay-Area artist, Robert Hudson has been a primary force in the West Coast assemblage movement, and is well known for his polychrome steel sculpture. Born in Salt Lake City in 1938 and raised in Richland, Washington alongside artists William Allan and William Wiley, Hudson moved to San Francisco in the late 1950s where he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute. Working in a wildly diverse array of mediums, Hudson has produced a large body of paintings, drawings, ceramic pieces and his famous steel sculptures in a career that continues to evolve over five decades of creativity. According to David S. Rubin of the San Francisco Art Institute, “Hudson demonstrates an adventurous spirit as he continues to challenge barriers that have traditionally existed between mediums.” His willingness to experiment with and explore new materials and techniques has allowed him to forge an authentically original style that draws on a range of influences, without subsuming his identity to any of them. No matter the medium, the works of Robert Hudson are characterized by a riotously visual approach, as the artist carefully juxtaposes fabricated and found objects into pieces that burst with his signature wit. The careful geometry of his forms is often painted over in trompe-l’oeil designs and decorative patters, as he skillfully manipulates the viewer’s perceptual experiences. Suzanne Foley described this phenomenon in her 1973 catalogue essay for Robert Hudson/ Richard Shaw: Work in Porcelain, writing that “the illusionistic surface decoration creates a lively tension between the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional sculptural form, giving this work its greatest distinction and excitement.” Hudson’s formally and spatially complex sculptures highlight his position as the progenitor of the current tendency toward sampled, hybrid art pulled together from disparate sources. A playful approach to his complex and multi-layered works allows his output to maintain a certain levity even as the pieces prompt viewers to question their experiences of art. Although his sculptures are often densely composed and seem to have been thrown together haphazardly, Peter Frank of Art Ltd. notes that “there is so much toward artifying mundane objects while leaving them anchored in the everyday.” Robert Hudson has exhibited since 1961, and his work is included in The Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Museum of Modern Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Stedelijik Museum. He also taught art at several schools in California, including the San Francisco Art Insitute, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Davis, and the California College of Arts and Crafts.
Courtesy of Kelly E. Boyd and Frank Lloyd.
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