Charles Birnbaum
Artist Statement
I sculpt to explore issues of identity: How do we negotiate the elusive intersection between public and private selves, between self and culture? I've looked to the archetypal myths and images of earlier cultures in order to create communitas-self within a community. In ancient societies, art was a collective, interactive experience; viewers were participants not observers. My sculptures encourage this active engagement. Experienced visually, they appear as self-contained entities, obviously abstract yet evocative of body parts or otherworldly creatures. Experienced physically, they are architectural shapers of space. Their openings invite viewers in, beckoning them to enter their enigmatic spaces.
My recent work examines the conflict between the need for physical intimacy and the fear of engulfment. In art, as in life, I push and pull at boundaries, exploring places where intimate connections become viscous mergings and joined areas separate into distinct autonomous forms. The sculptures exist at the edge of a collective pool of unconsciously observed imagery. They entice viewers into a primal engagement with the erotic tension between the hollow abysses and the closed spheres, the penetrating tentacles and swallowing cones. And I cover every sculpture with densely layered patterns and textures that stretch and distort with the swelling undulations of the forms-invocations to touch and explore.
Education
BFA, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
Graduate work (compelted), Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Awards
2008 Honorable Mention, 8th International Ceramics Festival, Mino, Japan
Solo Exhibitions
2008 Concepts and Processes, Silvermine Art Gallery, New Canaan, CT
2008 Sculpting the Self: Myths & Archetypes, Hoyt Institute of Fine Art, New Castle, PA
2008 Illusions, Gallery 621, Tallahassee, FL
2008 Myth, Memory & Imagination, Madelon Powers Art Gallery, E. Stroudsburg,PA
2007 Transformations, Strecker-Nelson Gallery, Manhattan, KS
2006 Reclaiming Lost Rituals, Casa Nova Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Group Exhibitions
2009 Palm Beach3 International Fine Art Exposition, Palm Beach, FL
2008 Small Works, Lana Santorelli Gallery, New York, NY
2008 Ceramics Expressions, Blue Door Art Association, Yonkers, NY
2008 Ceramics at Work, Gloria Kennedy Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2008 Made In Clay, Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY
2008 SOFA New York, New York, NY
2007 5th International Ceramic Biennial, Kapfenberg Cultural Center, Austria
2007 2-3-d-6 Competition, Energy Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2007 SOFA New York, New York, NY
2007 National Invitational Cup Show, Isadore Gallery, Lancaster, PA
2007 10th Annual National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA
2007 Biennial Exhibition, Guildford Art Center, Guildford, CT
2007 Competition 2007, Plaza Art Gallery, Garden City, NY (Award of Excellence)
2007 38th National Juried Exhibition, Palm Springs Art Museum, CA (First Place)
2006 Annual Collector's Show, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
2006 Ceramics Biennial, New Hampshire Institute of Art, Manchester, NH
2006 Patterns in Clay, Art League of Long Island, Dix Hills, NY (First Place)
2006 SOFA New York, New York, NY
2006 57th Annual Art of the Northeast USA, Silvermine Art Gallery, New Canaan, CT
2006 International Cup Competition, Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula, MT
2006 16th National Ceramic Competition, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, TX
2006 7th National Prize Show, Ceres Gallery, Chelsea, NY
2006 Feats of Clay Merit Award, Lincoln Arts Center, Lincoln, CA
2005 9th Annual National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA
2005 CraftForms 2005, Wayne Arts Center, Wayne, PA
2005 International Cup Competition, Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula, MT
Selected Collections & Commissions
Ceramics Park, Mino, Japan
Kapfenberg Cultural Center, Austria
Edward Orton Jr. Ceramic Foundation
Kansas City Art Institute's Ken Ferguson Gallery, MO
Longhouse Reserve, East Hampton, NY
Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY
Branch Gallery, Washington, DC
Jack Lenor Larsen, New York, NY
Natalie Fitz-Gerald, Santa Fe, NM
Ronald Kuchta, New York, NY
Thomas Piché Jr., Sedalia, MO
Hilda Longinotti, New York, NY
Luanne Wells, Beverly Hills, CA
Lewis Wexler, Philadelphia, PA
Larry and Rita Sibrack, Naples, FL
Elie and Grace Goldberg, Rye, NY
Gallery Representation
Ingalls & Associates, Miami, FL
Jack the Pelican Presents, Brooklyn, NY
Loveed Fine Arts, New York, NY
Strecker-Nelson Gallery, Manhattan, KS
Walter Randel Gallery, New York, NY
William Havu Gallery, Denver, CO
Selected Bibliography
Robert C. Morgan, "Charles Birnbaum: The Precision of Art"
Suzanne Ramljak, "An Orgy of Form: Charles Birnbaum's Ceramic Sculpture"