Aria Gallery: Feuerman's Shapes of Reality

Diver, 2011. Painted Bronze. 77 x 25 x 11 inches.

Viewing Feuerman’s exhibit Shapes of Reality at Aria Gallery in Florence is the perfect way to spend a summer evening.

The sculptor’s life-size Diver is now on view in the garden at Aria. Diver seeks to capture the motion made by a diver as his body arches, goes backwards, and a ‘C’ shape is formed. This shape represents perseverance and balance as well as the struggle to achieve.

Diver, 2011.

Feuerman sought to accentuate the elegant ‘C’ shape to highlight the beautiful struggle of muscle and body that ensues when a diver pushes themselves past the limits of the ordinary.

As an Artist, Feuerman recognizes the symbol of the diver as a kindred artistic spirit. The Diver is perched on the edge, readying himself for more than just a dive; he is about to create and define his own reality. Feuerman pursues this same bold path with her sculptures.

Also on view at Aria Gallery is Next Summer, Monumental Brooke with Beach Ball, Capri as well as Serena Diamond Dust Shower.

Friends new and old, hungry collectors, delighted first-timers, and eager Press toured the gallery of bewitching swimmers.

All were united by the undulating energy imbued in the sculptures. Feuerman’s passionate dedication to detail is world famous and when given the chance, admirers get as close as possible to revel in these sundry specifics.  

Carole A. Feuerman Solo Show: 'New Works' at KM Fine Arts Chicago

Miniature Serena, 2015, Oil on resin with red Swarovski Crystal cap, 10 x 17 x 8 inches.

Carole A. Feuerman | New Works

July 31 – September 15, 2015

Artist Cocktail Reception: July 31, 5-8pm

RSVP HERE

Chicago, IL (May 19, 2015) - KM Fine Arts is pleased to announce Carole A. Feuerman | New Works, a solo exhibition of new sculptures by the artist, on view from July 31, – September 15, 2015 at the gallery’s Chicago location at 43 East Oak Street, Chicago, IL 60611. The exhibition will feature a selection of both life-size and small-scale works by the artist. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, July 31, from 6-9pm with the artist in attendance.

Carole Feuerman (b.1945) has received critical acclaim for her hyperrealist sculptures of swimmers and bathers for over forty years. A number of her most iconic images, including Balance, Serena and Miniature Quan will be featured in the exhibition alongside life-size works, Christina and Next Summer. Executed in painted resin with tactile flesh and meticulous detail, Feuerman’s sculptures have a presence that is both contemporary and classical. While it is not uncommon for hyperrealist work to seem cold and unapproachable, Feuerman’s bathers, balanced and calm, are unexpectedly intimate and inviting.

Genuine mink fur is used for the replication of eyelashes and hair, and the details of the tanned skin, fingernails, and bathing suit ripples are painstakingly painted on. These details combined with the perfectly formed water droplets made of clear resin create astonishingly life-like sculptures. A number of swimmers are even dressed with swim caps that are bejeweled with red and crystalline Swarovski Crystals. The artist states that she, “sculpt[s] the human figure so lifelike, the pieces seem to breathe...This can take up to 100 different coats of paint, and glazing and sanding in between coats, to get the finish and luminosity needed. From start to finish, the process of creating a sculpture can take from 6 months to several years.”

Next Summer, 2012, Oil on Resin, 39 x 54 x 50 inches.

In addition to her resin and oil sculptures, Feuerman is also works actively with bronze. Two of her bronze works, Miniature Tree and Miniature Diver will be featured in the exhibition. The body of the diver is arched into a sensuous C-shape and speaks to her understanding of the golden mean: an ancient mathematical equation epitomizing balance and proportion. The bather featured in Miniature Tree is posed with an S-curve, or contrapposto, typical of classic Greek and later Renaissance sculpture. 

Feuerman lives and works in New York. She has had six museum retrospectives and her work has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 2008 Olympic Fine Arts Exhibition, the Venice Biennale, The State Hermitage, and The Palazzo Strozzi Foundation, to name a few. Among her many honors are 1st-Prize-Best in Show at the Beijing Biennale, the Amelia Peabody Sculpture Award, the Betty Parsons Sculpture Award, and the Medici Award. Her work is in the selected collections of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Forbes Magazine Collection, the Caldic Collection, and Credit Suisse Collection. Selected public collections include Grounds for Sculpture, the El Paso Museum of Art, the Boca Raton Museum of Art, the Bass Museum and Art-st-Urban.

Miniature Diver, 2014, Bronze with 24 karat gold leaf, 24 x 8 x 6 inches.

About Carole A. Feuerman

Carole A. Feuerman is recognized as one of the world’s most renowned hyperrealist sculptors. Her prolific career spans four decades in which she has pioneered new approaches to sculpture. Working in both monumental and life size, she is the only figurative artist to hyperrealistically paint bronze for use in outdoor public art, and the only sculptor to install these sculptures in the water.

While attending the School of Visual Arts in New York, she painted 13 album covers used by Time Warner Records including, but not limited to, The Rolling Stones World Tour Book, Alice Cooper, and Aretha Franklin. She has been honored with six major museum retrospectives to date.  Her work has been showcased in numerous exhibitions including the Venice Biennale, the State Hermitage, the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation, the Kunstmuseum Ahlen, the Archeological Museum di Fiesole, and the Circulo de Bellas Artes.  She won first prize at the Austrian Biennale, the Florence Biennale, the 2008 Olympic Fine Art Exhibition, best in show at the Beijing Biennale, and won the Save The Arts Foundation Award as Museum Choice.

Miniature Balance, 2015. Oil on resin with Swarovski Crystals. 18 x 16 x 9 inches.

In 2000, she was elected to be a member of the International Woman’s Forum, where preeminent leaders of diverse professional achievement from finance to fine arts come together to make a difference and to take an active, leadership role in matters of importance. In 2013 her sculpture, The General’s Daughter was featured in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

There are four full-color monographs written about her work: Carole Feuerman Sculpture, both editions published by Hudson Hills Press, La Scultura in Contra la Realta, which is available in multiple languages, and Swimmers, published by The Artist Book Foundation. 

KM Fine Arts | Chicago

43 East Oak Street

Chicago, IL, 60611

Gallery Hours | Tuesday - Saturday, 11am - 6pm

t: 312.255.1202

e: info@kmfinearts.com

Feuerman's Sculptures Have Bodyguards at Palazzo Mora for 2015 Venice Biennale

DurgaMa, 2014. Painted Bronze. 101 x 90 x 91 inches.

When pieces of art acquire their own bodyguards, it’s definitely worth noting. Feuerman’s monumental sculptures Leda and the Swan and DurgaMa have been so successful at this year's Venice Biennale that they literally require guarding.

Both sculptures are part of the 2015 Biennale Exhibit: Time –Space-Existence presented by Personal Structures, Global Art Affairs running through November 22, 2015 in Palazzo Mora.

Leda and the Swan, 2014. Oil on Resin with 24K Gold Leaf and Swarovski Crystal.

The studio received word from the director of the fair, René Reitmeyer and the curators of the Personal Structures exhibition brought to Venice by the GAA Foundation, that despite providing Leda and the Swan with a tent to establish a boundary and protect her from the elements: People persist in trying to touch her to see if the Swan is a pool tube or an actual sculpture. 

The sculpture has it’s own bodyguard. Leda’s fans are tenacious in their desire to touch the surreal beauty and according to the Venice curator: “It seems unstoppable.”

Leda and DurgaMa have garnered a massive response while on display at the Biennale. It’s estimated that up to 200,000 people have laid eyes on Feuerman’s enchanting sculptures this summer. Crowds continue to gather and Leda and DurgaMa never have less than 30 people admiring them on a daily basis.

In response to the Leda/DurgaMa phenomenon, Feuerman will be returning to Venice from August 15th to August 19th and will be making an artist visit to Palazzo Mora and can be found there daily from 11:00 am until closing time.

She will be doing some painting while she is there and it will be an exciting opportunity to watch her work. She looks forward to connecting with and greeting fervent enthusiasts of her sculptures.

Palazzo Mora:

Strada Nuova #3659 Venezia, Italy

Feuerman Prints up for auction at Christie's as Lot 183 this Tuesday July 14th

LOT 183

A suite of Feuerman Serena prints, one of the artist’s most iconic images, will be up for auction this coming Tuesday July 14th at Christie’s Auction House. Take advantage of this rare opportunity to become a collector and acquire a timeless, iconic set of images.

Carole A. Feuerman Joins A-Lister 'Swanning' Trend

Leda and the Swan, 2014. Oil on Resin with 24K Gold Leaf and Swarovski Crystal. 42 x 80 x 90 inches.

Feuerman and the likes of Taylor Swift and the Kardashians have Swan Fever. The hyper-realistic sculptor joins A-listers in celebrating a giant 7 foot long inflatable white swan.

Sales of the swan have skyrocketed and over 40,000 were sold this year alone. It has become the obligatory summer photo prop for Swift, Calvin Harris and a myriad of other limelighters.

Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris. Courtesy of Taylor Swift's Instagram.

Long before the inflatable Swan started making the rounds on the celebrity Instagram circuit - Feuerman took ‘Swanning’ to a whole new level and handcrafted and sculpted the Swan for her piece: Leda and the Swan in 2014.

Palazzo Mora, 2015.

The sculpture was featured in this year’s premier art event: The Venice Biennale. Feuerman’s show Personal Structures at Palazzo Mora was a huge success and crowds gathered to gape at the Swan. The sign that read “Do Not Touch” on the sculpture was interpreted as “Please poke, kiss, and sit on me” because people couldn’t get enough of the huge white bird.

Feuerman loves that Swanning has crossed the Atlantic!