Chloe Rizzo

Chloe Rizzo is a sculptor, arts engagement consultant, and teaching artist. Much of her work is done in Ceramics and Glass, concerning her classical training in Sculpture at Rowan State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1998. She continued to earn her Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics at the Rochester Institute of Technology, School for American Crafts in 2001 and completed Post Baccalaureate studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Rizzo deeply believes the philosophy that creating art is a powerful act that can result in transformation, and everyone deserves that opportunity. She has been an exhibiting and teaching artist for over 15 years, working with diverse populations in both public and private institutions across the country, including the Northern Clay Center, the City of St Paul, Gage Academy of Art, Seward Park Art Studio, Perkin’s Center for the Arts, and Arts Corps in Seattle. Public art installations from her most recent arts engagement work can be seen in multiple locations throughout the Twin Cities, including the ABC Transportation and Mobility Hub in Minneapolis, The Staring Lake Park in Eden Prairie, and throughout St Paul's North End. The resulting artworks works both highlight the direct contributions of the residents living in proximity to the sites and the importance of hope through environmental awareness. Before relocating and building her new studio in St. Paul, Minnesota, Rizzo was an Instructor of Fine Arts for Amarillo College and West Texas A&M University. Her work can be found in many private collections, public places, and the permanent collection of the Museum of Western New York Art. Rizzo is currently represented by the Rubine Red Gallery in Palm Springs, California.

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

If you’re thinking about decorating your space with abstract sculpture, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

You don’t have to look for a piece that demands attention. Find a work of abstract sculpture that speaks to you. As is the case with any abstract art, whether it’s sculpture, an abstract painting or a grouping of prints, you can select a work for your living room or dining room, for example, that will either casually fade into the background or serve as a focal point. When you’re thinking about how to arrange your furniture and decor, consider color, texture and what kind of energy you’d like a specific room or corner to evoke. Abstract sculpture can go a long way in elevating a home, and its history is interesting if you’re shopping for a new piece today.

As a pioneer in naturalistic forms and figures that vividly express emotion, Auguste Rodin is often called the father of modern sculpture. His work in the 19th and early 20th century broke with artistic conventions and inspired modernism, leading to a new period of avant-garde abstraction.

Among the first artists to push abstract sculpture into the mainstream were Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. They helped define the movement of Cubism, which focused on deconstructing the world abstractly.

Later in the 20th century, the artistic movements of Italian Futurism, Dadaism, Neo-Dadaism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and minimalism all contributed to the advancement of new and more abstract sculpture designs. Italian Futurism, for example, celebrated movement, dynamics and technology in abstract sculpture. These movements passed down ideas that continue to inform abstract sculpture today.

Browse a range of modern abstract sculptures, postmodern abstract sculptures and other kinds of sculpture on 1stDibs.