Conversation Series
“Jonathan and Barbara: Sculpture and Empathy” with Choghakate Kazarian
Artistic Director Michael Brenson and art historian and curator Choghakate Kazarian discuss Jonathan Silver’s vulnerable and profoundly human yet somehow still monumental sculpture of Barbara Silver that was the centerpiece of his 1989 installation The Lower Room. Video and editing: Rachael Bohlander.
Head. c. 1968: “The Scale of the Hand”
Michael Brenson and sculptor Tom Otterness discuss Jonathan Silver’s wax and plaster head on a metal rod in a coffee can. In 1992, Silver gave the work to the filmmaker Coleen Fitzgibbon, Otterness’ wife, in gratitude for her work on the film she was preparing, which she would call “Jonathan Silver: Infidel in the Studio.” Otterness provides special insight into one of Silver’s most impromptu, revealing and irresistible works. Video and editing: Rachael Bohlander.
War Memorial, c. 1981: “After Destruction”
Sculptor and painter Bruce Gagnier and JBSF Artistic Director Michael Brenson discuss Jonathan Silver’s maquette for a war memorial (c. 1981), a project for a monument that provides a unique perspective on Silver”s sculptural imagination. Video and editing: Rachael Bohlander.
Head, c. 1974: “Metaphysical Horror”
Two plaster casts of the same head by Jonathan Silver are the focus of a conversation between sculptor and painter Bruce Gagnier and JBSF Artistic Director Michael Brenson. Drawing on his long friendship with Silver, Gagnier explains his choice of this head for discussion and shares his intimate responses to Silver’s sculptural thought and creative process. Video and editing: Rachael Bohlander.
Head, 1971: ‘Matter and Dream’
Michael Brenson, Artistic Director of the Foundation, and Robert Taplin, sculptor and critic, discuss one of Jonathan Silver’s captivating plaster head sculptures. Video and editing: Rachael Bohlander.