Ken Bortolazzo
OPENING RECEPTION: 1ST THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2010, FROM 5 - 8PM
SULLIVAN GOSS – An American Gallery is pleased to present a new exhibition of work by American sculptor Ken Bortolazzo. A Santa Barbara based sculptor, Bortolazzo is a master of creating complex, yet pleasing visuals for the human eye. His large, earthbound interlocking pieces of steel from a decade ago have metamorphosed into optikinetics - kinetic sculptures that use stainless steel mesh to produce special optical effects. Careful balancing and artful engineering enable skeletal panels and steel arms to seemingly lift off and float above the ground. Bortolazzo’s sculptures of durable steel are delicate in appearance and excitable with just a breath of air. They continually redefine the space around them by spinning or gently rocking, while creating optical illusions from refracted and reflected light. Also, in this exhibition, new wall-mounted panels create an illusion of depth and interior space upon the flat surface of the wall.
Ken Bortolazzo was born in 1947 and educated in Santa Barbara before he apprenticed with Julio Agostini and Kenneth Noland. Art collaborations with Irma Cavat at UCSB led him to his apprenticeship with renowned American kinetic sculptor, George Rickey (1907-2002). Bortolazzo studied Rickey’s precise mechanics and added his own ideas about light and form. He has exhibited widely and has work in many private and public collections. Recent achievements include the placement of Estacas at the Museum of Outdoor Art. In 2008, an original commission was installed in a reflecting pool on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington.
Sullivan Goss is proud to present works by Ken Bortolazzo from August 5th through October 31st, 2010. Also on view is GEOMETRIC ABSTRACTION: Recurring Patterns in American Art, a group show of abstract paintings and sculptures from 1937 to 2010.