Espalier Athena, 2007
Espalier Athena, 2007
burnished stainless steel
160” x 36” x 38
Provenance:
13th Street Winery Permanent Collection since 2018
Literature:
Espalier is a horticultural term for a tree or shrub trained to grow flat against a surface. This stainless, steel sculpture is made up of configurations of overlapping and abutting planes. The title is drawn from a Greek mythological figure, it emphasizes the inspiration people have drawn from the human form and nature.
“Espalier Athena” is part of the Espaliers series, an ongoing series of life-scale sculptures in stainless steel which are active studies in demonstrating the potential for abstract figure-oriented artworks to serve a prominent role in visually enhancing public settings. This potential has been achieved through a process in which strategic works from the series are physically scaled-up in a proportion of 1:2, resulting in works with a monumental, yet physically approachable scale.
Couldn't load pickup availability
About Douglas Bentham
Canadian sculptor Douglas Bentham (b. 1947) produces abstract sculpture in various mediums, primarily in steel, stainless steel, bronze/brass and wood. He creates his unique objects in scales ranging from monumental pieces to works that can be held in the hand. Bentham’s sculptures are represented in the collections of numerous public institutions across Canada. His process of working is rooted in the Modernist tradition, embracing growth and transformation.
Douglas Bentham has maintained an international reputation as a major practitioner of abstract, constructivist sculpture for over forty years graduating with a BA Advanced degree in painting from the University of Saskatchewan in 1969. He received an MFA in sculpture from that institution in 1989, working alongside eminent artists/teachers Eli Bornstein and Otto Rogers. He has contributed to many international artists’ workshops throughout his career, including the Emma Lake Artists’ Workshop, Saskatchewan, Canada; the Triangle Artists’ Workshop, New York, US; and the Hardingham Sculpture Workshop, Norfolk, UK. He has presented over fifty solo exhibitions across Canada, notably a nationally travelling exhibition organized by the Art Gallery of York University, Toronto, ON, in 1975, and a ten-year survey exhibition at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK, in 1980.
“I’m only satisfied with a work of art when the original concept becomes transformed by its making. I enter into a kind of prayer with the material with the goal of creating a rhythm that will carry me through many days in the studio. I address several pieces simultaneously, always on the edge of seeing the art in unexpected ways, allowing it to assert itself by my presence. Collage lends itself best to this process by being so open-ended, so agreeable to rapid change.”
