Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Today's Artist - Sarah Perry

During a work visit today, one of our dynamic Trustees introduced me to "Bobo" - a giant, life-size replica of a gorilla made of scraps of tires retrieved from roadways. The gorilla was menacing yet alluring. The curvature of the tires were perfectly molded to mimic the strength and shape of a primate.

"One reviewer described her work in the following way: “Mummified bird parts, copper tubing, lizard heads, rubber tires, mice molars, steel, burned tortillas, cat hair, glass rods, twine, bone dust and clay — these and other quirky materials are seamlessly, even organically combined in Sarah Perry's sculptures, which [has been described] as ‘a marriage of Charles Darwin and P.T. Barnum.’ Perry's works explore the mysteries of life and death, decay and rebirth, using discarded junk that she finds in the Nevada desert. One of her best known works is Route 40: Bill, a remarkably realistic, 700-pound gorilla made from discarded rubber truck tires wrapped around a steel armature."

More of Sarah Perry's art...