Assembled Souls, an exhibition of fantastic wood and mixed media figures by acclaimed sculptor Joe Brubaker opens in October at Donna Seager Gallery in San Rafael. It coincides with the release of Somnambulists, a hard-bound limited edition book, chronicling Brubaker's career and creative process. A limited-edition boxed book with original drawing included will also be available. The exhibition will run from October 1 through October 31. A public reception for the artist will be from 6 to 8pm on Friday, October 10. Donna Seager Gallery is at 851 Fourth Street in San Rafael between Lincoln and Lootens. Hours are from 11am to 6pm, Tuesday through Saturday, Sundays from 1pm to 5pm. For information, call 415-454-4229, email art@donnaseagergallery.com or go online at www.donnaseagergallery.com. The opening reception will include the unveiling of a collaborative BIG sculpture of "Wicker Man", an altar and large figure which will be constructed by Joe and friends including many Bay Area Artists.
The wooden carved figures of Joe Brubaker have often echoed sources of inspiration from Spanish colonial Santos or retablo objects to Egyptian tomb figures and Buddhist stone carvings. In these recent works, Brubaker has gone beyond these early influences, crossing cultures on an even broader basis. He has included forms reminiscent of ritual costumes and body decorations from indigenous peoples all over the world. Incorporating scraps of metal and found materials, he has created a cast of characters that are at once strikingly universal and individual. The work might be compared to that of Stephen de Staebler in the sense that the figures seem to rise out of stockpiles of body parts but in Brubaker's case, the body parts are not cast, but may have once been pieces of hardware or beautifully aged beach wood. For Brubaker, there is a moment when the work takes on its own personality. "I almost imagine myself as channeling some soul that's out there and wants to come back."he says. "It's really sometimes an eerie moment."They become Brubaker's own iconographic symbols of peoples throughout time, struggling to build and remake themselves out of the materials at hand. These entities become Brubaker's own iconographic symbols of peoples throughout time, struggling to build and remake themselves out of the materials at hand, ever wandering. Because they are figures, we relate instinctively to the works in a physical way, feeling a kinship with the balance of the arms , the forward tilt of the body, or catching an eye-to-eye gaze in the usually human-height figures. But because the sculptures also have so many But the sculptures also have abstract qualities that enable us to travel through the sensations of shape, color and texture the way we would when experiencing a complex and masterful abstract work.
Assembled Souls refers not only to the nature of the sculptures themselves, but to the historic gathering of the works in the gallery as an installation. The gallery will be transformed during this exhibition into an atmosphere that is an experience in itself. Brubaker and his collaborators will create their own version of a Wicker Man in the center of the space, a modern manifestation of the Druid practice of building huge human effigies out of sticks and wooden materials in homage to the gods. Attendees will be able to witness the sculpture as if they are at a meeting of mythical characters from diverse and imaginative lands. The effect is a ritualized homage to the creative process.
Somnambulists the new hardbound limited edition book on the artist, shares its title with the highly successful exhibition at Donna Seager Gallery in May of 2007. The book is also available as a limited edition boxed volume with an original drawing included in each set. The book brings together images of works throughout the artist's career with sketches and written ideas giving a rare glimpse into the artist's process. Often the images are tipped in, allowing the viewer to lift up the finished work and see the doodles and origins that were its conception. The book is available through the gallery.
Born in Lebanon, Missouri, Brubaker studied art at Long Beach State and Sacramento State Universities and received his MFA at UCLA. He began his art career as a painter, but soon found inspiration from his travels, encountering Mexican Santos and indigenous arts from many cultures. His work has been shown in galleries in Seattle, Santa Fe, Boston, southern and northern California. He formerly exhibited with Susan Cummins Gallery in Mill Valley and has been represented by Donna Seager Gallery in San Rafael since 2005.
