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"Artist of the Month" - JOHN DeANDREA |
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DeAndrea is an internationally recognized superrealist sculptor. |
He creates
lifecast figures and busts in polyvinyl or bronze polychromed in oil. |
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"I always
believed in the real thing," sculptor John DeAndrea says of his ultra-life like work,
"lf I could make it breathe I'd say. 'l've done a good days work
now!" For more than twenty years, John DeAndrea's sculpture has extended
realism to its extreme. His figures remain the last word in illusionism, enduring
chilly gallery settings with serenity.
Yet the artist's own myth is Promethean. His is the legend
of the creator who challenges the Gods themselves to favor or condemn his
intentions. Dedalus makes a statue of a hero so lifelike that Hercules takes it for
a rival and knocks it down. Aphrodite breathes life into Pygmalion's ivory
Galatea. There are Dr Frankenstein's furtive experiments and Coppelius's wonderful
doll. |
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On one hand, much of DeAndrea's work perpetuates the artistic tradition of the idealized
nude. Linda (1983) and Joan (1992) are sisters of the long-legged, high-breasted
Aphrodites revered by the Creeks,and the recumbent nymphs and goddesses of Titian and
Giorgione. DeAndrea continues this tradition by choosing youthful models who are
firm and well muscled. They are individuals whom nature has fashioned close to the Western
canon of beauty.
On the other hand, the fact that the sculptures are cast directly
from the models' bodies ensures that every birthmark and wrinkle, every flaw, however
small will be reproduced in plastic and paint. This insistent individualism and deviation
from perfection run counter to every notion of an ideal art. Realism is by definition
opposed to idealism, yet they harmonize in John DeAndrea's work. |
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In the most fundamental sense of the term, DeAndreas art is also Classical. His sculptures
are direct descendants of the rouged, gilded, and waxy idols we know (though we scarcely
believe) the great stone sculptures of Classical antiquity to have been when new.
However, DeAndreas figures are wholly secular, with none of the sentimental passion that
typifies these religious images. |
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Indeed, the poignancy
of DeAndrea's sculpture derives from its very coolness, its lack of Eros. Dressed or
naked, the figures make no attempt to engage the viewer. Even those with energetic
or agonized poses remain self-contained, introverted. Eyes are downcast or closed-or look
into an indefinite middle distance as if their world is another dimension in which the
visitor has no reality. It is as if these enigmatic icons meditate on what the
flesh-that is, our flesh-is heir to. |
Text from the
O.K.Harris Gallery in Soho, NY. ©2005 |
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Click here for the "Artist of the Month"
Archive. |
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©2008
Joseph Canger.com |
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