Name: White and Multi-Color Gem, John Torreano
Brand: John Torreano

About the Item

John Torreano, White and Multi-Color Gem, 1988, made of enamel, gems and wood 11 x 9 x 16 in. John Torreano is an American artist from Michigan. He earned his BFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1963. He received his MFA from Ohio State University in 1967. He is currently clinical professor of studio art at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. Torreano is known for utilizing faceted gems in a variety of mediums in order to create "movement oriented perception" in his works. Artist Richard Artschwager described Torreano's works as "paintings that stand still and make you move." John Torreano received critical attention in the 1980s for his Wall Gems, painted wood, gem-shaped sculptures often embedded with glass jewels. Installed in various group configurations the sculptures seem to float on the wall. In his latest work, wooden balls have replaced the embedded gems on flat, planar surfaces while the gem shapes of the wall sculptures have morphed into spheres which he titles Odd Ball Wall Balls and Lucky Balls. Torreano has worked in a variety of mediums and methods including paint, sculpture, relief, furniture and hand-blown glass. His works have been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, and many others. His series of paintings titled "TV Bulge" were featured in the 1969 Whitney Biennial. In 1972, as an artist in residence at the Art Institute of Chicago, Torreano first began integrating gems into his paintings. Torreano then experimented with jewel-encrusted columns in 1974-5 and later, intricate furniture pieces, such as a bejeweled mahogany table in 1983. Torreano’s sculptures are equal parts abstraction and direct citations of the physical world. The random scattering of gems suggest a celestial sky while the stylized gems and balls reference a combination of both decorative and abstract art. Torreano uses the gem to bring together the world of theory and the world of things. Because gems are a geometric form as well as an object of popular culture, his use of fake gems can become real art by standing in the gap between the two. Torreano lives in New York City. SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2017: Color and Material, Reflection and Apparition. NYUAD, NY, NY 2017: Dark Matters Without Time. NYU Department of Art and Art Professions, Barney Building, NY, NY 2016: Above Below and Below Below. Projects Space, NYUAD Saadiyat Island Abu Dhabi, UAE 2015: John Torreano. Susanne Hilberry Gallery, Ferndale, MI 2014: Ghost Gems. Parrish Museum, Southampton, NY 2011: John Torreano Wall Constructions and Gems. Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL 2009: Remembering: Neighborhoods and Factories, Flint, Michigan. 2008: Looking Close, Looking Far: A Survey of Artworks by John Torreano. Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 2007: Scapes. Feature Inc., New York, NY 2005: John Torreano. Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, FL 2003: Center for Creative Studies, Detroit MI 1999: John Torreano: Material World. JCCC Gallery of Art, Overland Park KS 1999: The Columns: Choreography of Perceptions. The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown OH 1997: John Torreano. Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis IN 1993: Every Gem is a Hand Held Star. Norton Gallery of Art, Palm Beach 1989: John Torreano: Natural Models and Material Illusions. The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC 1988: Diamond Vases, An Installation. Museum of Modern Art, NY, NY 1988: John Torreano: Gems, Stars and Perpetual Thinking. Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids MI 1987: 100 Diamonds. Jamie Wolf Gallery, New York NY 1968: The Whitney Museum School, New York NY

Creator:
John Torreano (1941, American)
Creation Year:
1988
Dimensions:
Height: 17 in (43.18 cm)Width: 17 in (43.18 cm)Depth: 9 in (22.86 cm)
Medium:
Enamel,Wood
Period:
1980-1989
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Chicago, IL
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU112823945472

John Torreano
White and Multi-Color Gem, John Torreano
1988

About the Item

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John TorreanoWhite and Multi-Color Gem, John Torreano1988

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John Torreano
White and Multi-Color Gem, John Torreano
1988