Gilbert Boro, owner and curator of the Sculpture Grounds in Old Lyme, Conn., presents Summer Sculpture Showcase 2019: An Exhibit of Intriguing Landscape Sculptures. Featuring 23 works by both well-established, nationally renowned sculptors, as well as fresh promising newcomers, the summer-long show will run through Oct. 26, 2019.
The reception is free and open to the public and includes live music and light refreshments.
Boro, a nationally acclaimed sculptor in his own right, hosts this fifth annual show to provide a venue for both young and mid-career sculptors to showcase their work. This summer’s show is curated by the Sculpture Grounds team that has collaborated for several years to produce dynamic exhibits. Each of the artists chosen, Boro says, “offers original creative thinking resulting in a combination of contrasting conceptual designs in a variety of media.”
Boro has a strong aversion to exhibits that prohibit touching a piece. His Sculpture Grounds not only permit – but encourage – visitors to touch sculptures. “I really think that three-dimensional art should be handled, touched, pushed, and experienced in three dimensions,” he says. The exhibitors for the Summer Showcase embrace this concept.
Artists from Connecticut, the Northeast region, and around the country are represented in the show. Massachusetts sculptor Madeleine Lord scrounges through scrap yards collecting all manner of discarded metal that she then assembles into playful humanoid type sculptures. Her showpiece Core is indicative of her imaginative creativity.
Connecticut-based artist Craig Frederick was chosen for his sculpture “War”. Frederick says creating art “is my way of attempting to understand an increasingly complex world. In a world where order, as we perceive it, is a mere illusion, the work of my art becomes the ability to navigate the churning of many tides.”
Other participating sculptors include William Evertson, whose works examining our human failings and fragility have been displayed world-wide; the abstract sculpture of Joe Gitterman; and luminous glass sculptor Mundy Hepburn.
In the spirit of supporting and exhibiting promising new artists, the Summer Showcase will introduce the work of Alfredo Carlson, a 2019 graduate of Lyme Academy of Fine Arts and a native of Haiti. Upon his arrival in America at age 10, Carlson had no previous schooling. He says he never thought he would even make it to high school, let alone college. “I literally started from the bottom,”
Carlson says. “I get asked how it feels be a college graduate. I literally don’t know. I’m still in shock I’ve made it this far.” Carlson says, “I’m honored to be included in such a big show,” which will feature his senior project, “Can I Live?”
Situated halfway between Boston and New York, Summer Sculpture Showcase 2019 is set on Boro’s four-and-a-half acre estate in the heart of Old Lyme’s historic village. The permanent display consists of approximately 100 works strategically placed around the park-like grounds. Now in its 15th year, the Sculpture Grounds host more than 5,000 visitors a year.
Visitors are welcome to bring their own picnic to the patio cafe. The grounds are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, year-round, admission is free, and touching the sculptures is encouraged. For more information, artist’s statements and brief bios, visit www.sculpturegrounds.com.