Published to accompany the first major retrospective in more than 20 years of Texas sculptor Jim Love's work. Love first gained national recognition in 1961 when his work was included in The Museum of Modern Art’s groundbreaking exhibition The Art of Assemblage. He began his career as an urban archaeologist of sorts, scouring junkyards for interesting castoffs and later welding original forms in iron and steel, elevating ordinary objects to inventive works of art. These include his early “put-togethers”; his signature bears, birds and dogs that take on life’s dilemmas; his flower and bouquet motifs; and his portraits, theater sets, and designs for furniture and other functional objects. Also known for his large-scale public commissions in Houston, such as Portable Trojan Bear (1974) in Hermann Park and Call Ernie at William P. Hobby Airport, Love was a central figure in Texas art circles from the 1950s until his death in 2005.
