For over forty years James Surls has been realizing the visions of his heart and mind into works of sculpture. His sometimes massive sculpture, many of which seem to defy the laws of gravity, have a presence that puts the viewer in mind of an illusive moment now seen. Surls, who often works in steel and wood, embeds this work with a craftsmanship that is felt in the hand-cut timbers and forged steel. Alongside the work that stands in the round, he has used his same sculptural tools to gouge and mark into wood to be printed onto paper. His moving from the third dimension into works that are two dimensional has been a constant in his practice. He has embedded the grace of his linear steel lines into the etched surface of copper, these same powerful outlines into wood and his complex network of marks onto stone all for the purpose of being printed as etchings, woodcuts and lithographs. He transforms the edges that we see in the round to another type of edge that ends up defining a new reality. Surls lives comfortably in this edge between dimensions.
Flatbed is proud to be able to show some of the highlights of these works that James Surls has created. Link here: ManOnEdge to see some select works in the exhibition.
In conjunction with PrintAustin, James Surls will be joining a panel of artists on Saturday, January 13th to explore regional nuances within the importance of printmaking as a medium for Texas artists.
There is a 12:30 suggested arrival time for the event happening from 1-3pm at Big Medium, Canopy, 916 Springdale Rd. Bldg 1, Unit 101.
Image: Cut Hand Hurt Eye II; Woodcut with bullet holes; 71 7/8 x 35 1/8 inches image size; 79 7/8 x 42 1/8 inches paper size; 1990.