ALUMASCAPE III ARRIVES AT THE WESTMORELAND!

The Westmoreland welcomes Alumascape III, a sculpture by important Pittsburgh artist Aaronel deRoy Gruber (1918-2011), to the Museum’s north entrance grounds in June. This kinetic work designed by deRoy Gruber consists of sections cut from an aluminum cylindrical pipe originally manufactured for industrial use. Occasionally activated by the wind, the vertical composition changes form as it eventually makes a full rotation. The work was gifted to the Museum by The Irving and Aaronel deRoy Gruber Foundation in honor of now Curator Emeritus Barbara Jones’ creative bond with the artist and Barbara’s commitment to sharing her story. Aaronel deRoy Gruber: Art(ist) in Motion was curated by Jones and presented at The Westmoreland in 2013. An event celebrating Aaronel deRoy Gruber will take place on Wednesday, August 2 from 3-4:30pm. For more information, see page 13.

Brittany Reilly, Executive Director of the deRoy Gruber Foundation, offers more insight into Aaronel deRoy Gruber’s artistic practice through this excerpt from a longer essay on the artist.

Comprised of six aluminum elliptical forms welded together along their interior edges and perched upon an elongated cylindrical base, Alumascape III rotates freely, set into occasional and intermittent motion by atmospheric wind and assisted by the oblique ovals and angled position of the sculpture's uppermost portion. Tracing yet another oval in the airspace just above it, the composition transforms instantly in one's presence and is further influenced by the orientation of the spectator. A departure from the control and consistency of her electricity-reliant motorized sculptures throughout the 1970s, Alumascape is a clever reminder of deRoy Gruber's intrigue with and mindfulness of the human body and elemental factors.

In addition to wind, the allowance of natural elements to influence the surface of select industrial materials (raw aluminum anodizing or CORTEN Steel gaining a desired rust layer) is a marker of time and reinforces deRoy Gruber's interest in the unhurried metamorphic possibilities of an outdoor sculpture, as well as the immediate.

Born and raised in Pittsburgh and eager to interface engineered technologies with visual art experiences, deRoy Gruber was influenced by and immersed in regional industry and related mechanics both literally and conceptually.

Read Brittany Reilly’s complete essay published as a blog at thewestmoreland.org/blog.