Jim Gary
Jim Gary | |
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Notable work | Universal Woman Stegosaurus Daphne Dagmar's Signature Bird Stained Glass Woman With Tattoo |
Website | www |
Jim Gary (March 17, 1939 – January 14, 2006) was an American
He was also recognized internationally for his fine, architectural, landscape, and whimsical monumental art as well as abstracts. Sculpture and life figures by Gary often included intricate use of stained glass and his works were frequently composed of, or included, hardware, machine parts, and tools. He employed painted steel in many works, it being his metal of choice.
One of his signature works, Universal Woman, a life-sized figure of a woman composed entirely of
He was born in Sebastian, Florida, but lived in Colts Neck, New Jersey from early infancy and considered it his hometown. At the time of his death he was a resident of nearby Farmingdale.[2]
Jim Gary is the only sculptor ever invited to present a
Biography
While still at grammar school, at the age of eleven, he moved out of his parents' Colts Neck home and began making his own living.[6] He supported himself by doing odd jobs and selling his handmade seasonal decorations. For almost a year he secretly slept in the garage of the Sterner family, a prominent Monmouth County couple in the same community, who employed him regularly. Once the family discovered this, they provided space in their home for him. He remained close to them until they died.[7] Gary attended Freehold High School, where he developed an interest in sculpting with wood; he was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2007.[8][9]
From junk parts, Jim Gary built what he needed to get about, first a bicycle and soon—long before he was old enough to drive on the roads legally—automobiles. He competed in gymnastics as a student. After serving in the United States Navy he taught welding and gymnastics in a federal program. During this period he developed a deft hand at welding. Shortly thereafter, applying these welding skills, he began making sculptures that he marketed as architectural elements, and showing his fine art in the New York metropolitan area.[10] The admiration of welders regarding his welding skills also is documented on his official web site.
Early career
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Reassured of the caliber of his work by the compliments he received in the encounter with Lipchitz (who made a professional suggestion for a better method of preparing a stand for the life-sized torso Gary had on display), he established his gallery, Iron Butterfly, in Colts Neck featuring the works of other artists he selected as well as his own work, later moving the gallery to Red Bank.[11] The multitalented Gerald Lubeck was one such artist featured at Gary's fledgling gallery. Classes were offered at the gallery by Jim Gary and Virginia Laudano (who later, would manage the gallery when Gary was on tour and currently is an instructor [12] at an art center in Florida).
Gary's
Examples of his many architectural sculptures include his
As he gathered parts for the unique automobiles he constructed when he was young, Jim Gary said he realized that these parts resembled anatomical structures of insects, large birds, reptiles, and especially the bones of dinosaurs. Early in his career, he began to construct sculptures of those animals by assembling the automobile parts into almost life-sized models. He used as many as eight to ten vehicles to create his large dinosaur sculptures [3] and the unaltered parts are identifiable. Common tools became pivotal structures in some of his sculptures. Volkswagens metamorphosed into turtles and prehistoric dinosaurs.
Gary had to invent equipment to build and move the huge sculptures, creating the scaffolding, hoists, and even special vehicles that featured cranes to haul the sculptures around at his rural workshop and to place them onto trucks for transportation. He also relied upon blacksmith skills to fashion unique hand tools when no standard ones were useful for his needs.
International traveling exhibition launched
These sculptures provided a unique display that became Jim Gary's
In 1979 the
Once asked why he built all of the enormous dinosaur sculptures, the typically quiet sculptor responded, "Because people like them." The huge crowds who flocked to his exhibits demonstrated their immense popularity. Grinning Jim Gary birds, critters, and dinosaurs have been featured in articles and on the covers of magazines from Smithsonian and Sculpture Review (publication of the National Sculpture Society) [4] [5] to National Geographic World (now called, National Geographic Kids) and Time. His work has been featured in textbooks, encyclopedias, educational videos, newspapers, on the Internet, and on television shows around the world. In January 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that "one of his works, Stegosaurus, is included in Alphabet Animals, a children's book by Charles Sullivan that includes depictions of animals by John James Audubon, Alexander Calder, and Marc Chagall." All of the letters of the alphabet were taught using works of fine art through illustrations or professional photographs of artworks. "S" was taught with Gary's green dinosaur, Stegosaurus.
After the display became the permanent Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs exhibition, it traveled internationally to
The premier research and development center for revolutionary technologies,
The exhibition was booked for a tour of Japan that began in April 1984. The poster displayed to the right was for the opening exhibition at a national museum in Tokyo that lasted through May, before making a six-month tour to museums in other Japanese cities. Posters were distributed in the cities that were included in the tour and they were displayed in buses, trains, and other public places to announce the exhibition in each museum.
A four-month-long museum solo show of his sculpture exhibition was held from July–November 1985 at the
This exhibition opened for Jim Gary's unique four-month solo show of his sculpture at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., on April 12, 1990, and, according to the museum director, drew record-breaking attendance to the museum.[6] [18] Gary is the only living sculptor ever invited for a solo show and the museum director indicated that it exceeded the number of visitors to any other exhibitions.
Commissioned work and fees for the exhibitions of his work that were so heavily attended became his mainstay. His gallery was closed in favor of marketing through his studio. Signature sculptures of Gary's fine art were among the works displayed in these solo shows and tours, attracting many commissions for private collections. Selected works offered for sale sometimes accompanied the permanent exhibition as it was booked for displays, shows, and exhibits.
In 1993 the award-winning Nicky Silver play, Pterodactyls, featured Jim Gary sculptures in its sets when it opened in Manhattan.
When the state of New Jersey held the gala opening of its first major science museum, the Liberty Science Center, just across the harbor from lower Manhattan on January 28, 1993, the entire first floor exhibition space was devoted to what the museum director called "the spectacular dinosaur sculptures made by... Jim Gary".[19]
A Jim Gary dinosaur is in the collection of Ripley's Believe It or Not!, which displays the sculpture in its museums and features the Gary "Stegosaurus" in its publications. Ripley first exhibited it in their museum in Daegu, Korea and the sculpture travels to other locations.
Many fledgling
Great numbers of museums especially designed to engage children have hosted exhibitions of Gary's sculpture. Generations have grown up with vivid memories of his work and his encouragement for them to follow his dynamic example. Astounding attendance records demonstrated a cross-cultural popularity in
The last solo shows featuring the Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs exhibition on tour during the lifetime of the sculptor were two related ones in North Carolina in 2004. First the exhibition was displayed at
Jim Gary is a self-taught sculptor whose works include abstracts, three-dimensional portraits, architectural, and functional pieces, as well as the celebrated collection of "Twentieth Century Dinosaurs"... [He] creates his art using the things that many of us think of as junk. Old car parts, metal washers, glass, and screws are transformed into extraordinary works through the gift of Jim’s imagination. Considered a master of metal working, Jim creates the impression of motion from cold steel and found objects. Best of all, he infuses humor and personality into his creations. Spend just a few minutes with his road runners and dinosaurs and look at the expressions on their faces – you will find yourself naming the creatures and wanting to take them home!...[20]
In September 2009 Jim Gary's publicist and studio director, Kafi Benz, announced that negotiations were in progress for sculptures from the exhibition to be put on permanent loan at a museum.[21][22][23] Her long-range plan was that as much of the traveling exhibition as possible be displayed in permanent collections where the sculptures would remain open to the public.[24] She noted that several sculptures had been placed at museums and venues in New Jersey that traditionally hosted displays of his sculpture throughout Gary's career, but most of the sculptures from the traveling exhibition were among those being included in the negotiations for loan as a single collection.[25] She also stated that other Jim Gary sculptures from private collections could expand the collection that is being loaned by the Jim Gary Foundation.
On August 22, 2011, twenty-one Gary sculptures were shipped from New Jersey to Florida.[26][27] Three photographers were invited by Gary's studio director and publicist to document the preparations and loading of the sculptures: William Angus, Jason Meehan, and Hal Sokolow. Both Angus and Sokolow have produced works dedicated to, or about, Jim Gary during their careers and more will be produced from the move. Angus stated that he doubted he would ever have an opportunity similar to shooting the complex move again in his lifetime.[28][29]
Following a refurbishment of the sculptures, they are scheduled to be on exhibit at the
Lectures, media coverage, and annual free display
Jim Gary was a popular figure for
Gary always took the time to make appearances at schools to show children how he made his sculptures and to encourage them to pursue their own creative talents. Along with typical pieces of his work he also provided small sculptures made of materials familiar to children at school lectures. He personally answered every letter sent to him by a youngster.
As reported by Karen DeMasters in
Gary was quite welcoming to people who stopped by his home to admire the sculptures that he always kept among his well-tended gardens. It was not unusual for him to invite visitors to sit down and chat for a while.
Garysaurus — and other neologisms
A tribute to the sculptor was published on February 14, 2006, in the British newspaper,
Early in his career, the invention of neologisms arose for Gary's dinosaurs. Chevrosaurus was among the first when it was published in the New York Times in May 1979.[35] Another New York Times writer described one of Gary's works as a Diner-saurus in 1993, because when the green Stegosaurus was not traveling on exhibition, he usually displayed it at the diner he frequented. None of these stuck for long without the Gary name as part of the new words, as Roth's clever title does in his tribute.
Death
On January 14, 2006, Gary died in
Notes
- ^ Milestone; Died. Jim Gary, 66, From the Magazine | Notebook, Time, January 30, 2006; page 21
- ^ Jim Gary by Andrew Roth; Tuesday February 14, 2006; The Guardian; United Kingdom; guardian.co.uk, in which the revered obituary author coined the term, Garysaurus, for the huge sculptures among Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs, using the plural form, Garysauruses, in the obituary.
- ibid
- Dinosaurs To Scare A Dinosaur by Yanick Rice Lamb; Currents, January 7, 1993; The New York Times; a news article about the opening of a solo show of Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs for Liberty Science Center at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, in which Jim Gary is quoted regarding the number of vehicles he used as he created large dinosaur sculptures
- Hark, the Pterodactyl's Wing, by Karen DeMasters; December 16, 2001; The New York Times [10]
- Jeopardy! - November 14, 2007 - featured on the international television quiz game show, Sculptor Jim Gary is known for making this out of junk cars. The question being... What are dinosaurs?
References
- ^ Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975: 400 years of artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, editor-in-chief, Sound View Press, Madison, Connecticut, September 1999, in three volumes
- ^ Fox, Margalit. Jim Gary, Sculptor Inspired by Junk, Dies at 66, The New York Times, January 19, 2006. Accessed November 27, 2007. "He was 66 and lived in Farmingdale, N.J.... James Gary was born in Sebastian, Fla., on March 17, 1939, and grew up in Colts Neck."
- ^ Fox, Margalit. Jim Gary, Sculptor Inspired by Junk, Dies at 66, The New York Times, January 19, 2006
- ^ Sculptor Jim Gary dead at 66, United Press International, Arts News, January 20, 2006, 14:29 GMT — an example of the wire service stories released internationally to subscribing news publications following the announcement of Gary's death
- ^ Fox, Margalit, Jim Gary, Sculptor in Metal, International Herald Tribune, Culture, Today in Arts and Leisure, January 20, 2006.
- ^ Benz, Kafi, Sculptor Jim Gary, Jim Gary Web Site by Kafi Benz, 1990
- ^ Navarra, Tova, Jim Gary: his life and art, 1987, HFN, Inc., p. 13-14
- ^ Celano, Clare Marie. "Freehold alumni join school’s hall of fame"[permanent dead link], news Transcript, April 18, 2007. Accessed January 11, 2017. "A 'man of muscle and of character,' according to the 1960 Log, he participated in gymnastics, auto mechanics, biology and chemistry clubs and graduated in 1960."
- ^ Rourke, Mary. "Jim Gary, 66; Artist Who Created Playful Dinosaur Skeletons From Car Parts", Los Angeles Times, January 24, 2006. Accessed January 11, 2017. "He graduated from Freehold Regional High School, where he became interested in wood working and began to make wooden sculptures."
- ^ Benz, Kafi, Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs, Kafi Benz Productions, 2001
- National Geographic World, September 1978, cover and pages 4-7
- ^ Virginia Laudano is an instructor at the Art Club of Sun City Center
- ^ Twentieth Century Dinosaurs return to Tallahassee Museum Archived 2012-03-28 at the Wayback Machine, August 26, 2011
- ^ Miller, Stephen, Jim Gary, 66, Made Dinosaurs From Auto Parts, New York Sun, January 17, 2006
- ^ Benz, Kafi, Sculptor Jim Gary Memorial Fund and early tributes[permanent dead link], Kafi Benz Productions, January–February 2006
- ^ The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, April 16, 1982, page 25
- ^ Wils-Fontaine, Hildy, Gary's art turns back clock, The Register, Shrewsbury, New Jersey, August 16, 1981
- ^ Jim Gary, 66; sculptor created his art using junked auto parts Archived 2012-05-24 at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press, posted January 22, 2006 on Boston.com
- ^ Kolata, Gina, Science Gets Its Chance to Dazzle, New York Times, January 22, 1993
- ^ Dinosaurs on Campus!- guide for walking tour of the 2004 exhibit at Belk College of Business, UNCC
- ^ Benz, Kafi, Sculptor Jim Gary Memorial Fund and early tributes[permanent dead link], Kafi Benz Productions, January–February 2006
- ^ Benz, Kafi, Sculptor Jim Gary Memorial Fund - and early tributes, Jim Gary Website by Kafi Benz, Wayback Machine archive copy
- ^ Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine, The Arts Map
- ^ Plans for permanent exhibition noted in the January 15, 2006 obituary and tribute by Belk College of Business at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, "UNC Charlotte :: Belk College :: News Detail". Archived from the original on 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2009-12-26.
- ^ Talbot, Jonathan, Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs, archive and studio of sculptor Jim Gary, The Arts Map, March 20, 2012, Wayback Machine archive copy
- ^ Benz, Kafi, Tallahassee Museum will host Jim Gary sculpture exhibit, Kafi Benz Productions, August 22, 2011, with image by Hal Sokolow
- ^ Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs exhibit Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine, The Arts Map, August 26, 2011
- ^ Benz, Kafi, Tallahassee Museum will host Jim Gary sculpture exhibit[permanent dead link], Kafi Benz Productions, August 22, 2011, with image by Hal Sokolow
- ^ Benz, Kafi, Moving Jim Gary works from Colts Neck, Kafi Benz Productions, September 13, 2011, with image by William Angus and links to five original videos by Hal Sokolow
- ^ Martin, Laura, Jersey's Loss is Florida's Gain: Remembering an Arts Icon, Jim Gary Sculptures Move to Tallahassee Museum, Asbury Park Press, September 11, 2011, Entertainment, the Arts, cover, (p. 13-14 of printed edition)
- ^ Twentieth Century Dinosaurs return to Tallahassee Museum Archived 2012-03-28 at the Wayback Machine, August 26, 2011
- ^ Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs exhibit Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine, The Arts Map, August 26, 2011
- ^ 1980s section from Primeval Time, a dinosaurs documentaries specialised website
- ^ Guardian profile of Andrew Roth obituaries includes a catalogue of his work that is valued for biographical and historical interests
- ^ Cummings, Sandra; Artist's Palette Is the Junkyard; The Chevrosaurus Lives in Monmouth; May 20, 1979, New York Times, Sunday, Section: New Jersey Weekly, Page NJ1
- ^ Fox, Margalit (January 19, 2006). "Jim Gary, Sculptor Inspired by Junk, Dies at 66". The New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
External links
- Current official Sculptor Jim Gary web site (temporarily redirecting to a host page while being restored)
- Kafi Benz Productions: Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs Archived 2006-03-07 at the Wayback Machine
- Kafi Benz Productions: artist Jim Gary — news, links, and more photographs
- Kafi Benz Productions: Sculptor Jim Gary Memorial Fund and tributes[permanent dead link]
- Kafi Benz Productions: Tallahassee Museum will host Jim Gary sculpture exhibit[permanent dead link]
- Kafi Benz Productions: moving Jim Gary works from Colts Neck
- First official web site, Jim Gary Web Site by Kafi Benz - portions of the site may be accessed via Wayback Machine
- Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs
- artist Jim Gary - news, links, and more photographs
- Sculptor Jim Gary Memorial Fund - and early tributes
- Lost in Jersey Jim Gary's Dinosaurs blog - large photographs by William Angus of Jim Gary dinosaur sculptures from a defunct, related site — now posted on an associated Argus blog, including the first image (often not loading previously) and many comments
- Hairy Museum of Natural History January 17, 2006: Sculptor Jim Gary dies
- Jim Gary, 66, Made Dinosaurs From Auto Parts, by Stephen Miller, New York Sun, January 17, 2006, was the first newspaper obituary for Jim Gary
- Jim Gary, Sculptor Inspired by Junk, Dies at 66 - New York Times, January 19, 2006, includes a photograph of Jim Gary with many of his dinosaur sculptures at his workshop
- Jim Gary; Created Art From Castoff Auto Parts. Washington Post / Associated Press, January 19, 2006. see zoom photograph of life-sized sculpture of a woman created out of hardware
- Jim Gary, 66; Artist Who Created Playful Dinosaur Skeletons From Car Parts Los Angeles Times, January 24, 2006
- Dinosaurs To Scare A Dinosaur by Yanick Rice Lamb; Currents; January 7, 1993; The New York Times
- February 2009 exhibition features photographs of 1970s display by sculptor Jim Gary
- The Amazing Car Parts Dinosaurs of Jim Gary Archived 2010-08-23 at the Wayback Machine, July 2010, original jazz and blues composition accompanies a video by Hal Sokolow, submitted for display on YouTube Play Channel and Guggenheim Museum Event, as presented on the Smithsonian Museum site
- Jim Gary's Dinosaur Sculptures At His Studio on YouTube, a video released by Hal Sokolow in November 2010, dedicated to Jim Gary and documenting a visit to Jim Gary's former home before the sculptures there were relocated
- Jim Gary Sculptures - Dinosaurs on the Move, five videos released shortly after twenty-one sculptures were moved from Colts Neck to Tallahassee on August 22, 2011
- The Internet Movie Database has a listingfor sculptor Jim Gary because a museum exhibition of Jim Gary's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs was used as a set for a film released in 1986.