Existing comment:
Bradford Graves
Hung the Flesh of Living Fish I, 1992
Carved in limestone, ‘Bamboo Night' and ‘Hung the Flesh of Living Fish I', are representative of Graves' fascination with archeology and the earth. Both works prompt the viewer to generate a visual interpretation -- an interpretation reinforced by the titles of the works. ‘Bamboo Night ‘evokes the segmented stalk of the bamboo plant, whereas in ‘Hung the Flesh of Living Fish I', the steel slab jarringly interrupts the carved limestone only to further the metaphor of the title.
Whether or not these sculptures are intended to suggest such a literal visual interpretation, Graves' works carry a deeper meaning. His sculptures propose a sense of quiet mystery and deep intellectual thought -- to quote Burton Wasserman of Art Matters:
"The limestone carvings of Bradford Graves are a celebration of profound perplexity and mystery. They explain themselves neither quickly nor easily. Instead, they invite deliberately paced intellectual search and spiritual speculation… Stimulating the exercise of imagination, the sculptures challenge to invent their own relevant meanings…these silent pieces of chiseled rock plumb the sublime." – Burton Wasserman, Art Matters, May 1996. Source: http://www.bradfordgraves.com/pres_more.html (Aug. 6 2006). |