What lies beneath: Renowned sculptor Guy Dill arrives at the Laguna Art Museum on August 17 to discuss Nomad
By MARRIE STONE
If there is any light to be found among all the cracks caused by the pandemic, it’s the art that emerged from it. Lockdowns gave artists unencumbered time to focus. The results, in many cases, are unique bodies of astonishing work shaped by that historic event. For artists, the pandemic offered time and space to process their work through a new lens. For audiences, it afforded an opportunity to experience well-established artists’ visions anew.
If you haven’t yet immersed yourself in renowned sculptor Guy Dill’s exhibition at the Laguna Art Museum (LAM) – or even if you have – time is running out. Nomad closes September 1. But on Sunday, Aug.17, Dill will offer a personal walk-through of the show with guests.
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Courtesy of Guy Dill
World renowned sculpture artist Guy Dill arrives at LAM on Sunday, Aug. 17, for an intimate walk-through of his show “Nomad”
For Dill, who is internationally known for his monumental bronze, aluminum, glass and marble abstractions, the intimacy of Nomad is a departure. So are his materials (plaster, wood and concrete) and process (hand-wrought). In contrast to Dill’s large-scale public installations – like the 16-foot bronze behemoth that stands sentinel in Burbank (Nostos) – the 15 sculptures included in Nomad are done at human scale, with Dill’s own fingerprints visible in the work.
Accompanying them are 17 charcoal drawings, some done from different angles, which mirror each of the sculptures that dance down the center of the gallery.
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
“Nomad” consists of 15 sculptures and 17 charcoal drawings. It will be on display through September 1.
“This was a great departure for me,” Dill said. “Actually, it’s more of an arrival than a departure, because I took everything with me.”
He took his 50+ years of accumulated experiences working as a sculptor and combined them with a vast expanse of time to consider his next move. “Without any encumbrances, I got to investigate [my curiosities] and they gained momentum,” Dill said. “I love them as objects because they’re so hands-on and alive. My fingerprints are in there. All my mistakes are in there. Everything is there and it feels so different and refreshing, as opposed to the refined bronze and steel work.”
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
Look closely at each sculpture and you might discover Dill’s hand and fingerprints embedded in the plaster
Dill emerged with honors from Chouinard (later integrated into the California Institute of the Arts) in the early 1970s, an interesting moment in the abstract movement. The artworld was still revolting against the heroic figurative statues favored by mid-20th century authoritarians (Nazis, Soviets and Maoists). Abstraction continued evolving away from its early-20th century roots in spiritualism. Dill settled in a Bohemian Venice Beach studio and, using scavaged materials like cardboard, cable, rope and glass, successfully bridged the abstract gap. He hung out with other Venice notables like Ed Ruscha, Robert Irwin, Billy Al Bengston, Ken Price, De Wain Valentine, Larry Bell, Peter Alexander and Joe Goode, as well as friend, neighbor and celebrated architect Frank Gehry.
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His work quickly commanded the attention of gallerists and critics. In 1971, just out of Chouinard, Dill was curated into an exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. He was singled out for praise in Artforum review and began showing at such prestigious places as the Pace Gallery in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago (where he won the sculpture prize in 1974).
Today, his works are included in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum, the Guggenheim and MOCA in Los Angeles. To date, Dill has mounted more than 60 one-person exhibitions, with major works in more than 70 public and corporate collections in Doha, Tokyo, Yokohama, New Delhi, Stockholm, Brussels, New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and more. His public works are installed throughout Southern California at places like Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Cal State Fullerton, Kings Road in West Hollywood and throughout Beverly Hills.
At nearly 80 years old, Dill isn’t done. Drawing inspiration from his pal Frank Gehry, Dill embraces experimentation and evolution. “Whenever Gehry draws a building and executes it – when it’s built – you can always tell it’s his. There’s no mistake,” Dill said. “He would tell me, ‘Look more broadly at your work. You’ll see your identity in it.’”
So, when the pandemic struck – which coincided with Dill’s longtime trusted assistant’s retirement – it was time to take another look.
“There was something about wrapping or cloaking these bronzes before they got crated and loaded onto the truck to their final destination that intrigued me,” he said. “You could see the animation beneath the white cotton sheets I used to protect the patina. It created this veiling, this mystery. A new form on top of an existing form.”
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
Inspired by the sheets Dill used to cover his bronze statues during transport, he created this new body of work during the pandemic
It was important for Dill that there be a completed and composed work of art beneath the drape, not simply a plaster mold. So, he created an armature beneath each piece. “I need to know how it’s behaving. That eventually becomes its own language.”
What is language if not a conversation? That’s the other delight Nomad’s dynamic installation offers. “I’ve done about 60 one-man shows, and the installation is always the most fun and interesting part. How am I going to make this perform? How am I going to get the maximum out of every one of these works, and how are they going to work in concert? How will I enter it? How will I perceive it? The artist is the viewer. I have no concern about your particular take on it. That’s your business. I have to make those decisions and decide how everything works. I can’t base it on how you might react because I don’t know.”
Dill was drawn to LAM’s gallery because it presented him with a blank slate devoid of competing architectural elements. “I thought that room was really handsome because there was essentially no architecture in there. It was nice and neutral but had a kind of elegance and power stature.”
All that white space enhances Nomad’s spiritual and ethereal feel. The statues appear as escalating heavenly ascensions, each one dipping and bending and spiraling skyward. As art critic Richard Vine noted, “The works consistently recall the upward swirl of Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne, with all that the myth implies about aspiration, physical transformation and metaphysical limits.”
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
LAM’s Steele Gallery provides the perfect backdrop for Dill’s ethereal body of work
A well-timed visit might offer you the opportunity to enjoy the gallery in solitude for a few moments. It’s a moving experience. In the meantime, mark your calendar for August 17 and enjoy an intimate hour with the artist. The talk takes place at 2 p.m. More information, and ticketing options, go here.
