Frank Schwaiger: SYZYGY-when heavenly bodies align by Bruno David Gallery

FRA NK S CH WAIG ER SYZYGY-when heavenly bodies align

bruno david gallery

Frank Schwaiger

SYZYGY-when heavenly bodies align February 29 - April 18, 2020 Bruno David Gallery 7513 Forsyth Boulevard Saint Louis, Missouri 63105, U.S.A. info@brunodavidgallery.com www.brunodavidgallery.com Founder/Director: Bruno L. David This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition Frank Schwaiger: SYZYGY-when heavenly bodies align at Bruno David Gallery. Editor: Bruno L. David Catalogue Designer: Lily Hollinden and Grace Ray Designer Assistant: Claudia R. David Printed in USA All works courtesy of Frank Schwaiger and Bruno David Gallery Photographs by Bruno David Gallery Cover image: Frank Schwaiger. SYZYGY-when heavenly bodies align (Installation view) First Edition Copyright ©2020 Frank Schwaiger and Bruno David Gallery All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of Bruno David Gallery

CONTENTS

FRANK SCHWAIGER BY BRYAN HOLLERBACH AFTERWORD BY BRUNO L. DAVID CHECKLIST AND IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION

QUESTIONS FOR FRANK SCHWAIGER By Bryan Hollerbach (This interview was originally published in Ladue News, March 8, 2020)

What specifically inspired “SYZYGY-when heavenly bodies align”? The making of art with your hands is an ever-changing mixture of unknowns: these include discovering the possibilities offered by the materials, the limitations of your tools and work ethic, the accidents that always occur ( discoveries), your shifting goals, the intuition of your hands and the keenness of your learned vision. If and when these occur in some orderly fashion, this miracle is like the unlikely alignment of the planets. And, Syzygy is the last “S” in most dictionaries. What aesthetic commonalities (“macro” or “micro”) unite the works in the new exhibition? An artist strives for a consistency of purpose- each form must be true to itself. Everything else is a distraction from the purity of the idea. While this makes each piece unique (you don’t want to make anything that has been made before, even by yourself), your intuition ensures some kind of commonality. How do the works now appearing in Bruno’s gallery relate to those previously on display in the Bruno David Projects for so long? The point of making art is to challenge yourself, to learn something each time. Over the years, this erratic path of learning hopefully leads you to new places in your pursuit of clarity of expression. That is the relationship: if it is recognizable, I am not the person to say, but I know I did them. (this answer is a little wonky, as the question involves the evaluation of “relationships”, a very complicated terrain).

Among the works on display in this new exhibition, which would you cite as the one that most challenged you artistically – and why? All the pieces were cut from stone originally. Like people, every stone is different and needs to be understood. This is a long and unpredictable process and can take years. “Blades” took 10 years to envision and execute. I just couldn’t “see” it until I did. Others take years also because of the difficulty in working the granite and perfectly executing the moves I feel required to complete the true form inside. Finding an idea and bringing it forth is really an old man’s art. You cannot be in a hurry. In hindsight, both in general and in specific, which earlier sculptors or other artists have most influenced you – and in what ways? Since photography has freed art from being primarily about documentary, sculpture and painting can now be about feelings and ideas: Pure form. The great pioneers in this are Brancusi and Noguchi. Their creations are so powerful that I seldom look at them. This is because their creations reveal a new world of vision (which is their exact function), but it is their vision. It is hard enough to find your own vision without being seduced by theirs. “Back in the day,” what was it like to work with the late, great Buckminster Fuller? This question follows perfectly from the last one. Bucky was the last great intellect of our time. He sucked everyone into his world and changed you forever. The 2 years I spent at S.I.U. working for him (one never worked WITH Bucky) was like living with Leonardo DaVinci. Bucky did everything, all at the same time and I don’t think he ever slept- but could nap standing up. The first day of “class” we (there were two of us then) were put to work on Bucky’s latest project: To inventory the world ‘s resources so that necessary trade of everything could be freely exchanged, the usual utopian idea. We did this and spent our days in his domes, eating with his family and being a part of the constantly revolving scene of international visitors, all involved in Bucky’s emotional sphere. What was it like? Ultimately, one had to escape the mesmerizing atmosphere or be consumed by it. Two years and a Master’s degree was enough, but the experience was wonderful.

AFTERWORD BY BRUNO L. DAVID

I am pleased to present SYZYGY-when heavenly bodies align, an exhibition of new sculptures by Frank Schwaiger. This is Schwaiger’s fourth exhibition with the gallery. Schwaiger’s new sculptures took years to complete. All of them reflect Frank’s passion for stonework: “I am a stone carver,” he says. “It’s what I was put here to do.” He sees his work in the ancient tradition of sculpture created not as art but as “transmission objects” embodying the human desire to “reach and control the beyond, the impossible-to-understand”. In his artist’ past statement, Frank writes, “We make things with our hands - that unique ability makes us human, and even more amazingly, earns us an awareness of our spirit. All art is riven with this quest for who we are. The root of my iconography can be traced back, like Paul Klee’s, to 17th century Bavarian folk art and the making of things with the hand. That is who I am.” Frank Schwaiger’s work has been widely exhibited. He is a graduate of the Washington University in St. Louis, School of Architecture (Now the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts), and received his Master from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where he worked for Buckminster Fuller. Support for the creation of significant new works of art has been the core to the mission and program of the Bruno David Gallery since its founding in 2005. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Bryan Hollerbach for his thoughtful interview for the Ladue News. I am deeply grateful to Lily Hollinden and Grace Ray, who gave much time, talent, and expertise to the production of this catalogue. Invaluable gallery staff support for the exhibition was provided by Taylor Fulton, Sara Ghazi Asadollahi, Lily Hollinden, Eliza Reinhardt, and Zoe Duncan.

CHECKLIST & IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION

STAR 2019 Polished bronze 12 x 13 x 14 inches (30.5 x 33.02 x 35.56 cm)

Man 2019 Solid polished bronze 12 x 7 x 3 inches (30.5 x 17.8 x 7.6 cm)

SNAIL 2019 Polished bronze 7 x 7 x 7 inches (17.8 x 17.8 x 17.8 cm)

“P” 2019 Polished bronze 11 x 3 x 3 inches (27.9 x 7.62 x 7.62 cm)

Meteor 2019 Solid polished bronze 4 x 4 x 4 inches (10.2 x 10.2 x 10.2 cm)

MAN 2019 Antique bronze 9 x 8 x 1 inches (22.9 x 20.3 x 2.5 cm)

BLADES 2019 Polished bronze 9 x 9 x 6 inches (22.9 x 22.9 x 15.2 cm)

PISTOLETTA 2019 Polished bronze 11 x 7 x 7 inches (27.9 x 17.8 x 17.8 cm)

FAVORITE THINGS (detail)

FAVORITE THINGS 2019 Wood and various objects 24 x 18 x 18 inches (60.9 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm)

FAVORITE THINGS (detail)

CRUX I 2019 Marble 16 x 25 x 11 inches (40.6 x 63.5 x 27.9 cm)

ALTAR 2018 Lime stone and solid bronze 28 x 28 x 21 inches (71.12 x 71.12 x 53.3 cm)

Echo 2014 Bronze 43 x 15.5 inches (109.2 x 39.37 cm)

WINDOW ON FPRSYTH STAR 2019 Polished bronze 12 x 13 x 14 inches

Frank Schwaiger: SYZYGY-when heavenly bodies align. (Installation view-detail)

EYE OF GOD 2019 Polished bronze 20 x 13 x 3 inches (50.8 x 33.02 x 7.62 cm)

SCIMTAR 2019 Painted Bronze 27 x 22 x 3 inches (68.6 x 55.8 x 7.62 cm)

GODDESS 2019 Marble and Wood 19 x 9 x 3 inches (48.3 x 22.9 x 7.62 cm)

ECHO 2019 White Resin 48 x 15 x 5 inches (121.9 x 38.1 x 12.7 cm)

CERBERUS 2019 Steel 36 x 48 x 48 inches (91.44 x 121.92 x 121.92 cm)

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ARTISTS Sara Ghazi Asadollahi Laura Beard Heather Bennett Lisa K. Blatt Michael Byron Bunny Burson Judy Child Carmon Colangelo Alex Couwenberg Terry James Conrad Jill Downen Damon Freed

Yvette Drury Dubinsky Douglass Freed Richard Hull Kelley Johnson Chris Kahler Leslie Laskey Justin Henry Miller James Austin Murray Yvonne Osei Patricia Olynyk Gary Passanise

Charles P. Reay Daniel Raedeke Tom Reed Frank Schwaiger Charles Schwall Christina Shmigel Thomas Sleet Buzz Spector Mark Travers Monika Wulfers