Concrete Sculpture

The next phase from Georgesco's Wood Sculptures was to use one of his Wood Floor Pieces from 1973 and stand it upright on a 12' x 12' x 3' thick piece of Steel Plate with holes drilled into it to accommodate steel re-bars, which were latter welded in place. The wood floor piece had become the first mold for what was to be Georgesco's first Concrete Column. The wooden floor piece which was now standing vertical on the steel plate was siliconed in place to prevent the now to be mold from leaking. The steel re-bars were carefully fitted inside the now first half of the wooden mold. After the the re-bar was fitted a second half of the mold was constructed from 3/4" inch plywood and fitted and silconed in place, the mold was held together with bar clamps.

The ceilings in Georgesco's Venice, California Studio were 10' tall so the pieces which stood 119" tall were set under a recessed skylight to allow room for the concrete to be poured into the top of the mold. The finished Columns were only 1" shy of touching the ceilings when completed. A custom formula of concrete was prepared with pea gravel to accommodate the tight fitting tolerances between the re-bar and the mold. A minimum of 1.5" of concrete is the minimum tolerance for reinforced concrete. Of course Acrylic additives were used with the Portland Cement Formula for added strength an flexibility. Latter pieces used Formica which was laminated to the concrete molds to produce a glass like finish similar to marble and vibrated with a special concrete vibrator to eliminate any air pockets.

This was beginning of a new series of sculptures in concrete which evolved from their first relatives "The Wooden Floor Piece Series". This is how a artist can become prolific in his work. The artist must simply allow the work to speak and with a Vocabulary of Shapes in place the works begin to evolve on a journey of their own. This Series of Concrete Columns and Tripods was the catalyst to catapult Georgesco into the Top Collections in Los Angeles and New York. The first exhibition of these Modern Contemporary Sculptures was at Newspace Gallery, in Los Angeles 1976. The exhibition was deemed as a overnight success in 1976, and in 1977 William Wilson, critic from the Los Angeles Times wrote, " Georgesco's work looks so solved, almost smugly knowledgeable about its own ability to push the Art Worlds Masterpiece button." These works as similar to their counter part the "Wooden Floor Pieces Series" standing vertically on end is a great example of how a vocabulary can evolve without being starched into its own formula.