A Parralex View of Modern Contemporary Sculpture Through The 21st Century.

Modern Contemporary Sculpture to the novice might conjure old images which have been drilled in us for years. To the untrained person the images of Picasso or Miro may appear in their mind. But Modern Contemporary Sculpture has a broad and expanded context in History. Not only the assemblages of Picasso's Goat transferred latter by Duchamp in a minimally fashioned bicycle seat and curved racing bike handle bars for horns. Not only the everyday floor tile converted to into metal by Carl Andre the Minimalist.

Many other terms exist within the confines of the term Modern Contemporary Sculpture. There was Abstract Sculpture, Constructivist Sculpture, Figurative / Modern & Classical Sculpture, Cubist Sculpture, Minimal Sculpture, Minimal Abstract Sculpture among many other movements some important and some merely a passing phase or trend.

As just mentioned Minimalism, a great spot to start to begin a topic of rebellion against the Cubist , Consructivists and Early Modernist. Brancusi a Romanian sculptor (1876-1957) who later worked in Paris was the father of the Minimal Movement although some may refer to his work as Abstract. Not to differ with these terms lets call his work Minimal Abstract, using Geometry as a substitute for nature. In contrast to his Contemporaries such as Picasso, his vision was the birth of Minimalism or Abstract Minimalism, a movement which would not really be exploited and posted till the 1960's. Brancusi's "Endless Column", a 100 ft column made up of repeating geometric shapes undulating in and out of space, the "Table of Silence","Bird in Flight" and his famous sculpture "The Kiss", are all works which were built in rebellion to the complicated "Abstract", "Cubist" and "Constructivist Movements". Just as Modernist Architecture pressed to reduce the complicated "Ginger Bread" motifs and complicated roof lines to sleek Cubes or Rectangles, Brancusi did the for Art. His first show shipped to America for exhibition was to be insured as Art. The Insurance company took one look at the simple shapes in stone, wood and bronze and rejected their claim. To them these works were nothing but building materials. Often the the likes of Artists pushing the envelope are misunderstood. However over time we have all recognized the powerful impact of the Modern Contemporary Sculpture. The everlasting statements of "Less is More" and the importance of more reductive modes of expression.

Minimalism came in to fashion and domination with its opposite Pop Art in the 1960's as a rebellion against the Abstract Expressionist such as Kline and Pollock. Art seems to travel in cycles becoming complicated and returning to its opposite pole simplistic. Probably the most prolific mode of Modern Contemporary Sculpture style, is Abstract Minimalism. Minimalism with a twist. Such masters of this movement may be Chamberlain with his crushed automobile bodies, or Mark Di Suvero with his towering I Beam constructions.

The work of Christopher Georgesco falls neatly into the term "Minimal Abstract". His early Totemic Columns & Tripods in concrete and steel were successful in the 1970's in Los Angeles, picked up by L.A.'s Top Collectors and followed up by a show at L.A. County Museum of Art, tittled L.A.8. Latter in 1981 Richard Armstrong, currently the the director of the Guggenheim, wrote in Art in America, "Georgesco has few peers among younger American Sculptors becomes more evident each year." These works as with Brancusi's work who was also of Romanian decent used Geometry as a substitute for Nature. However Georgesco's work has evolved into the opposite with his recent "Leaves Series", substituting Nature for Geometry. With the progression of ones work , through time ones vocabulary may remain the same, while it's concept may be reversing.

As Art has expanded itself into the 21st Century new and different forms of art have emerged such Julian Schnabel, Jeff Koons, Paul McCarthy among others who are evolving Pop and even going back to nature as inspiration for even more reductive or utilitarian modes of expression. Art is Always re inventing itself in the pursuit of change. This seems to be a reflection on our society and what they are willing to bet their money on. Artist such as Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, are great examples of Art Manipulation and the conveyors of style as a Corporate Enterprise. God help the pursuit of the "Purist" and endow the the acrobats of "Market Manipulators". To View More Images Click> http://www.georgescoart.com/