Jonathan
Bauch, born 1940, is a New York City native, who began his artistic career as
an abstract painter, graduating from Parson’s School of Design and later
studying at NYU and SVA. Following his need for more interaction and movement
in his work, his artistic focus evolved from painting to sculpture in the late
1960s. He worked with different sculptural materials, such as wire mesh,
plaster, and aluminum with electric lights until 1996, when he began working in
steel and found a comfort and a freedom in both technique and composition he
had not previously experienced.
Bauch
adroitly manipulates welding technology, transforming hard steel into delicate
organic forms reminiscent of the natural world. In taming the steel, the
industrial quality of the medium is tempered by the indelible mark of the human
hand, resulting in sculptures that seem to defy their material with their lacy
ethereal qualities. He is particularly interested in bringing the immediacy of
the environmental challenges of climate change, into his sculpture. Since he
experienced the wrath of Hurricane Sandy first hand — submerging his studio
under eight feet of water — which has been reflected in some of his recent
works.
In February 2014 he was curator and one of four
exhibiting artists in Omens of Climate Change, a show designed to raise
awareness of a problem that isn’t going away. http://www.sciartinamerica.com/3/post/2014/02/-omens-of-climate-change-at-westbeth-gallery.html
In addition to exhibiting in solo shows at Carter Burden Gallery, NYC in 2013
and Gallery 307, NYC in 2010 including many group and solo shows stretching
back to his early solo at the Bruce Museum, Greenwich Ct. in 1973, he has been
the recipient of grants from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Adolph and Esther
Gottlieb Foundation, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. He has also taught welded sculpture at the Educational
Alliance Art School. His studio is currently located in Greenwich Village.
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| STORY BOOK UNDER WATER (Work in Progress) 56 x 25 x 34.5 inches |
For additional information visit:
His one-person sculpture shows include —
Personal Manufacturing, Carter Burden Gallery, NYC, May 30 – July 3, 2013
Spirit Series 2008-2012, Westbeth Sculpture Annex, NYC, February 23 - March 24, 2012
Friends in Steel, Westbeth Gallery, May 21 - June 5, 2011
Spirits in Steel, Gallery 307, October 21 - November 18, 2010
The Resulting Sculpture, Westbeth Gallery, NYC, September 23, 2007
The Alliance of Artists, at the Educational Alliance, NYC, 1991
Becket Art Center, Becket, MA, 1984
Mari Galleries, Mamaroneck, N.Y., 1976
Ward Nasse Gallery, NYC, 1976
The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT, 1973
Soft, Westbeth Gallery, 1972
The Resulting Sculpture is an art that draws inspiration from natural forms as well as the physical and "emotional" properties of the metal itself. The drawings which are the seeds of this sculpture were also shown with the three dimensional sculpture in solo exhibitions at the Westbeth Gallery, 155 Bank Street, on September 27 to October 14, 2007 — and at Gallery 307, in Chelsea, October 21 to November 18, 2010 — as well as the Westbeth Sculpture Annex, 55 Bethune Street, February 23 to March 24 2012, all in New York City.
