Steve Linn
"12 Bar Blues for Bird" sculpture portrait of Charlie Parker
2005

About the Item

Sandblasted carved glass, wood and bronze. Steve Linn describes himself as a documentary sculptor, conducting meticulous research on each of his selected subjects and choosing which references to interpret for the piece he then creates. Jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker -- nicknamed "Yardbird" or just plain "Bird" -- was born in 1920 in Kansas City. He was a product of the legendary jam session battles that occurred in the after-hours clubs during his late adolescence and he began playing professionally in the Jay McShann Big Band. In the early 1940s he formed one of the most famous quintets of all time with Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Thelonious Monk on piano, Charlie Christian on guitar, and Kenny Clark on drums. He was one of the founders of bebop and the most respected alto saxophone player of all times. Even though hard living cut Parker's career short (he died at 34, looking like an old man) his mastery of his instrument and improvisation remains to this day the level to which all succeeding players strive. The music in the background of Linn's portrait of Parker was written especially for this piece by jazz pianist and composer Karen Lehrer, who studied with Lennie Tristano, the piano player with Charlie Parker in the 1949 Metronome All Stars. Steve Linn describes himself as a documentary sculptor, and indeed, his work rests on the meticulous research he conducts on each of his selected subjects and the interpretation of the references he chooses to develop for each one. Yet his definition would seem to leave out the intensity Linn puts into the materiality of the work. His range of preference is vast and often surprising, using wood, glass, bronze, other metals, and now even holograms to depict the clues he gives the viewer about the work and personality of his subject. He most often combines them all and his mastery of each craft is truly impressive. The subjects Linn chooses for his multi-faceted portraits are often visual artists and musicians he admires, but also sports legends, workmen, and craftsmen (and women). Each tableau contains one or several views of the face or torso, first painstakingly drawn and then most often carved from plate glass or cast from a ceramic original via the kiln-formed glass technique. Tools and objects we would easily associate with the person if known to us are added in a careful composition, but Linn does not stop there. His Portraits series, begun over 50 years ago, now includes more elaborate installations and invites the viewer more deeply into the influences and relationships -- webs that creative humans weave.

Creator:

Steve Linn

Creation Year:

2005

Dimensions:

Height: 62 in (157.48 cm)Width: 51 in (129.54 cm)Depth: 16 in (40.64 cm)

Medium:

Bronze,Glass,Wood,Mixed Media

Movement & Style:

Contemporary

Period:

2000-2009