Skip to main content

Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

American
Over 100 international museums have exhibited Joan Giordano’s work for half a century, who has pushed the boundaries of the many materials she works with: handmade paper, recycled copper, encaustic wax, rolled newspapers, and steel, to name a few. She is enchanted by the cycles of change the materials reveal and the poetic sentiments they evoke. Joan masterfully molds beautiful forms that are as tough as they are delicate, as spiritual as they are material, and as abstract as they are laden with layers of history that can be “read” by viewers. Sometimes the readings are literal, as with her most recent body of work that features layers of text from newspapers from around the world. Other times, the reading is more metaphorical and spiritual, like fragments of memories we feel most when our senses are awakened. This artistic “alchemy” is often achieved through Giordano’s intricate juxtaposition of materials - and the unconventional way she works them. Shifting from two to three dimensional representation of forms was a pivotal shift in Giordano’s practice and is a defining element of her career. When she began making paper by hand in the 1970s, she fell in love with the tactile quality of moving plant fibers in water. She developed her lauded “Steel Angels” during this period - large steel armatures with layers of mesh and paper pulp, hand-applied paint, and encaustic wax. Her “Steel Angels” were exhibited around the world and became a coveted part of the United States’ Art in Embassies program. Soon after, Giordano was invited to study kozo papermaking at the Fujimori Factory in Japan with master paper maker Yoshi Fujimori, a national treasure who taught her Japan’s famed ancient techniques. Through these collaborative workshops, Giordano created “Washi Warrior,” which translates to “Paper Warrior” - a massive paper sculpture that resembles the steel armor of ancient Japanese warriors while retaining the fineness of paper. This counterintuitive balancing of delicacy with toughness is an ongoing, defining feature of Giordano’s work. Many movements and artists have inspired individual aspects of her practice. Through repeated gouging, burning, rubbing, and welding metals like steel, Giordano’s work calls forth the industrial force of sculptures by Frank Stella. Her use of humble, found materials - such as recycled copper - places her work in conversation with arte povera artists like Guiseppe Penone, as well as contemporary assemblage masters like El Anatsui and Judy Pfaff. Her most recent series of work takes the tactility of paper, and the physical processes of burning and shaping it, into the realm of political commentary in the spirit of Jenny Holzer’s recent “Dust Paintings.” Whereas Holzer paints over sensitive government documents, Giordano collects and assembles newspaper articles from around the world into her archetypal sculptural shapes. The pieces invite viewers to see how the same news stories are presented in different ways. It asks us to ponder, “Who Owns the News?”
(Biography provided by C Fine Art)
to
10
2
8
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
10
10
18
230
100
92
78
10
9
8
5
4
Artist: Joan Giordano
"It's Never Really Black and White" Abstract Paper Wall Sculpture, Mixed Media
By Joan Giordano
Located in New York, NY
"It's Never Really Black and White" by Joan Giordano Mixed media, archival newspapers, corrugated cardboard Museum shown and collected artist Joan Giordano is known for her unique h...
Category

2010s Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Cardboard, Magazine Paper, Newsprint

"A Life of Wonderment" Abstract Paper Wall Relief Sculpture, Mixed Media Collage
By Joan Giordano
Located in New York, NY
"A Life of Wonderment" by Joan Giordano Mixed media, archival newspapers, corrugated cardboard Museum shown and collected artist Joan Giordano is known for her unique hand made pape...
Category

2010s Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Mixed Media, Cardboard, Magazine Paper, Newsprint, Paper

"White Washed" Abstract Paper Wall Relief Sculpture, Mixed Media Collage
By Joan Giordano
Located in New York, NY
"White Washed" by Joan Giordano Mixed media, archival newspapers, photographs, corrugated cardboard Museum shown and collected artist Joan Giordano is known for her unique hand made...
Category

2010s Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Newsprint, Cardboard

"White Washed Too" Abstract Paper Wall Relief Sculpture, Mixed Media Collage
By Joan Giordano
Located in New York, NY
"White Washed Too" by Joan Giordano Mixed media, archival newspapers, photographs, corrugated cardboard Museum shown and collected artist Joan Giordano is known for her unique hand ...
Category

2010s Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Cardboard, Newsprint

"The World in a Grain of Sand" Abstract Paper Wall Sculpture, Mixed Media
By Joan Giordano
Located in New York, NY
"The World in a Grain of Sand" by Joan Giordano Mixed media, international archival newspapers, encaustic on canvas Museum shown and collected artist Joan Giordano is known for her ...
Category

2010s Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Magazine Paper, Newsprint, Canvas, Encaustic

"The Year in Pictures" Abstract Paper Wall Relief Sculpture, Mixed Media Collage
By Joan Giordano
Located in New York, NY
"The Year in Pictures" by Joan Giordano Mixed media, international archival newspapers, encaustic on wood panel Museum shown and collected artist Joan Giordano is known for her uniq...
Category

2010s Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Encaustic, Magazine Paper, Newsprint, Wood Panel

"Between the Lines" Abstract, Paper Wall Relief Sculpture, Mixed Media Collage
By Joan Giordano
Located in New York, NY
"Between the Lines" by Joan Giordano Mixed media, archival newspaper, encaustic on canvas Museum shown and collected artist Joan Giordano is known for her unique hand made paper scu...
Category

2010s Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Paper, Encaustic, Magazine Paper, Newsprint

"Free Press" Mixed media & paper, wall relief sculpture
By Joan Giordano
Located in New York, NY
"Free Press" by Joan Giordano Mixed media, archival newspaper, encaustic on canvas Museum shown and collected artist Joan Giordano is known for her unique hand made paper and wall relief sculpture...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Canvas, Encaustic, Newsprint, Mixed Media

"Exodus", Joan Giordano, Mixed Media, Paper, Newsprint, Wall Hanging, vertical
By Joan Giordano
Located in New York, NY
"Exodus" by Joan Giordano Mixed Media, Handmade Abaca Paper, Newspapers, Photographic Prints, Encaustic Museum shown and collected artist Joan Giordano is known for her unique hand ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Archival Paper, Handmade Paper, Newsprint

"Money Tree" Handmade Paper, Mixed Media, Wall Relief Sculpture, Vertical
By Joan Giordano
Located in New York, NY
"Money Tree" by Joan Giordano from her "Presences" series of vertical wall scrolls Handmade Kozo Paper, Yellow Pigment, Bamboo, Encaustic Museum-shown and collected artist Joan Gior...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Paper, Handmade Paper, Pigment

Related Items
White Path - 3D small contemporary abstract round mural sculpture
Located in New York, NY
Erin Vincent is a Toronto based-artist whose work draws on a variety of repetitive and labor intensive processes and materials. Things and common objects have always fascinated Vinc...
Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel, Archival Paper

Hourglass (blue): glass sculpture sand, cast camera & quartz crystal; New in box
By Daniel Arsham
Located in New York, NY
DANIEL ARSHAM Hourglass (Blue), 2019 Glass, sand, cast miniature camera and quartz crystal in opaque white resin accompanied by its original box with guara...
Category

2010s Contemporary Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Glass, Resin, Plaster, Mixed Media, Plastic, Cardboard

Lapis - 3D small contemporary blue abstract round mural sculpture
Located in New York, NY
Erin Vincent is a Toronto based-artist whose work draws on a variety of repetitive and labor intensive processes and materials. Things and common objects have always fascinated Vinc...
Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Acrylic, Wood Panel, Archival Paper

“Culture Counter” Red Abstract Contemporary Mixed Media Collage Sculpture
By Brent Fogt
Located in Houston, TX
Colorful abstract contemporary collage sculpture that incorporates pages from 1960 Sears catalogues, cardboard, wood, concrete, acrylic paint, and wood glue. The bright red sculpture...
Category

2010s Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Concrete

Bumble (Folk Style Abstract 3-D Wall Sculpture in Sky Blue, White, Black & Grey)
By Susan Stover
Located in Hudson, NY
Abstract, folk art style, three dimensional wall sculpture in striped patterns of sky blue, black, white and grey "Bumble", made by Susan Stover in 2020 Cardboard, latex, acrylic, v...
Category

2010s Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Mixed Media, Wax, Thread, Latex, Paint, Varnish, Acrylic, Cardboard

Why so Blue? (Abstract Three Dimensional Wall Sculpture in Robin's Egg Blue)
By Susan Stover
Located in Hudson, NY
Abstract, folk art style, three dimensional wall sculpture in striped patterns of robin's egg blue, sky blue, beige, orange, and black "Why so Blue?", made by Susan Stover in 2020 C...
Category

2010s Contemporary Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Thread, Cardboard, Acrylic, Wax, Mixed Media, Varnish, Paint, Latex

"Isosahedron" collaborative collage on three dimensional paper sculpture
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This piece titled "Isosahedron" is an original artwork by members of Space 1026 and is made of cardboard, paper, acrylic, and varnish. This piece measures 1...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Paper, Varnish, Acrylic, Cardboard

Handmade Paper Collage Sculpture Art Assemblage with String Nancy Genn Modernist
By Nancy Genn
Located in Surfside, FL
Nancy Genn, American (b. 1929) Marshfield 25 (1977) Handmade paper collage Hand signed verso Dimensions: 20 1/8 x 22 inches Utilizing what is now known as the 'Genn Method,' Nancy Genn created three-dimensional abstract works of handmade paper, gaining international recognition in the 1970s Nancy Genn is an American artist living and working in Berkeley, California known for works in a variety of media, including paintings, bronze sculpture, printmaking, and handmade paper rooted in the Japanese washi paper making tradition. Her work explores geometric abstraction, non-objective form, and calligraphic mark making, and features light, landscape, water, and architecture motifs. She is influenced by her extensive travels, and Asian craft, aesthetics and spiritual traditions. Nancy Genn was born in 1929 in San Francisco, California. She recognized early that she would pursue a career as an artist. Her mother, Ruth Wetmore Thompson Whitehouse, was a painter and UC Berkeley alumna who played a leadership role in the San Francisco Women Artists organization. Genn studied at San Francisco Art Institute (then California School of Fine Arts) with painter Hassel Smith, and at the Art Department at the University of California, Berkeley (1948–49) with Professors Margaret Peterson and John Haley, and fellow students Sam Francis and Sonya Rapoport. In 1949 she married Vernon “Tom” Genn, an engineer raised in Japan, with whom she had three children. Career Genn's first noted solo exhibition was in 1955 at Gump's Gallery in San Francisco. She received international recognition through her inclusion in French art critic Michel Tapié’s seminal text Morphologie Autre (1960), which cited her as one of the most important exponents of post-war informal art. In 1961, Genn began creating bronze sculptures using the lost-wax casting method. Influenced by noted sculptor and family friend Claire Falkenstein, who used open-formed structures in her work, Genn cast forms woven from long grape vine cuttings, and produced vessels, fountains, fire screens, a menorah, a lectern, and, notably, the Cowell Fountain (1966) at UC Santa Cruz. In 1963 her sculptural work was exhibited with Berkeley artists Peter Voulkos and Harold Paris in the influential exhibition Creative Casting curated by Paul J. Smith at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York. Genn was one of the first American artists to express herself through handmade paper, first receiving wide recognition via exhibitions at Susan Caldwell Gallery, New York, beginning in 1977, and in traveling exhibitions with Robert Rauschenberg and Sam Francis. In 1978-1979, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and Japan Creative Arts Fellowship, she studied papermaking in Japan, visiting local paper craftspeople, working in Shikenjo studio in Saitama Prefecture, and exhibiting her work in Tokyo. She also learned techniques from Donald Farnsworth...
Category

1970s Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Mixed Media, Handmade Paper

Happy Party 45" x 30"
Located in Toronto, ON
With a vision of paintings that literally break free of the canvas, Blady + Van Mil invented moulage (molded collage) through experimentation in the early days of the pandemic. It be...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Mixed Media, Acrylic, Canvas

Intenciones del Silencio XVI. Mixed media on canvas
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Intenciones del Silencio XVI, 2023 by Angélica Chavarro Franco From the series Intenciones del Silencio Mixed media (Oil paint and textile) on canvas Frame size: 17.9 H in x 13.9 W...
Category

2010s Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Textile, Canvas, Paper, Mixed Media, Oil

"Rhombicuboctagedron" collaborative collage, three-dimensional sculpture
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This piece titled "Rhombicuboctagedron" is an original artwork by members of Space 1026 and is made of cardboard, paper, acrylic, and varnish. This piece me...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Paper, Varnish, Acrylic, Cardboard

Indian Contemporary Art by Sumit Mehndiratta - Nailed it Series No.162
By Sumit Mehndiratta
Located in Paris, IDF
Textiles, acrylic paint and metal on wooden panel Sumit Mehndiratta is an Indian artist born in 1986 who lives & works in New Delhi, India. He has pursued Master of Science in Inter...
Category

2010s Abstract Joan Giordano Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Metal

Joan Giordano abstract sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Joan Giordano abstract sculptures available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of abstract sculptures to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Joan Giordano in paper, newsprint, mixed media and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Joan Giordano abstract sculptures, so small editions measuring 23 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Richard Heinrich, Beatriz Gerenstein, and Brad Howe. Joan Giordano abstract sculptures prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $10,000 and tops out at $30,000, while the average work can sell for $18,000.

Recently Viewed

View All