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Robot 2, Found Object Sculpture With Iconic Children's Toy Parts

About the Item

Self-taught artist John Seubert, AKA John Dolly, uses objects he uncovers as he rehabs older homes in Chicago. This piece is made from found and salvaged objects, including a child's Erector Set toy. The artist has signed his name simply "John, 2024" as well as "Robot 1" on the bottom of the marble base. John Seubert Robot #2, 2024 found ephemera & vintage printed material 16h x 10w x 6.50d in 40.64h x 25.40w x 16.51d cm JSE093 In the early Nineties, John Seubert was living in a former hotel in a high-rise building on St. James Place in Chicago. The apartment was tiny, as hotel rooms tend to be, and clad with paper-thin walls allowing sound to pass from one apartment to the other. At the time, John’s artwork consisted of pounding copper sheets into tables which was a noisy endeavor to say the least. Following several noise complaints from the neighbors, John had a dream that he was living in a ramshackle house but with plenty of room to work and no attached neighbors. The following day after lunching at the McDonalds in Lincoln Park, John wandered the neighborhood a came upon a shabby, falling-down old Victorian house. He located the real estate agent, put in an offer, and weeks later was pushing a shopping cart full of his belongings to his new home. This 144-year-old Painted Lady provided a blank canvas for this inimitable artist. For many years the house remained so empty that John was able to ride his Japanese fold up bike throughout the 1st floor. “Some people want to have sex in every room, I’ve made art in every room,” says John casually when asked in which room he keeps his studio. The original bumpy-lumpy plaster walls and roly-poly hardwood floors have had their influence on his artwork and vice versa; the artist constantly evolves and devolves with his living environment. Over the years, John has experimented with numerous art forms: welding, ceramics, photography, jewelry making, painting, and sculpture of various kinds. The minute a medium becomes tedious, he drops it and moves on. Until he rediscovers his own work in the place where he’d first set it aside in his home. One thing leads to another and back again.
  • Creator:
    John Seubert (Artist)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 18.75 in (47.63 cm)Width: 7 in (17.78 cm)Depth: 8.5 in (21.59 cm)
  • Style:
    Modern (In the Style Of)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    2024
  • Production Type:
    New & Custom(One of a Kind)
  • Estimated Production Time:
    Available Now
  • Condition:
  • Seller Location:
    Chicago, IL
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: JSE0931stDibs: LU4511144322142

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Fountain of Lies, Objet d'Art with Painting and Found Objects
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Self-taught artist John Seubert, AKA John Dolly, uses objects he uncovers as he rehabs older homes in Chicago. This piece has a figurative painting mounted as a shrine then set upon a corinthian capital and a granite stand. A metal plaque at the top as well as at the bottom give the piece it's title 'The Fountain on Lies". John Seubert The Fountain of LIes mixed media Measures: 22.50h x 13.50w x 4d in 57.15h x 34.29w x 10.16d cm JSE069 In the early Nineties, John Seubert was living in a former hotel in a high-rise building on St. James Place in Chicago. The apartment was tiny, as hotel rooms tend to be, and clad with paper-thin walls allowing sound to pass from one apartment to the other. At the time, John’s artwork consisted of pounding copper sheets into tables which was a noisy endeavor to say the least. Following several noise complaints from the neighbors, John had a dream that he was living in a ramshackle house but with plenty of room to work and no attached neighbors. The following day after lunching at the McDonalds in Lincoln Park, John wandered the neighborhood a came upon a shabby, falling-down old Victorian house. He located the real estate agent, put in an offer, and weeks later was pushing a shopping cart full of his belongings to his new home. This 144-year-old Painted Lady provided a blank canvas for this inimitable artist. For many years the house remained so empty that John was able to ride his Japanese fold up bike throughout the 1st floor. “Some people want to have sex...
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Midnight Matinee, Ceramic and Found Object Assemblage Sculpture
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Artist statement: During the summers in Connecticut when I was a pre-teen, I lived for playing baseball. I grew up on a farm and had to work hard, but I always made time for baseball. I played everyday and sometimes even slept with my glove underneath my pillow. I dreamed of playing professionally for the New York Yankees. The only thing that dragged me away from playing baseball was an arts and craft’s class in my school’s summer program. On Tuesday afternoon, after lunch, baseball was on hold for arts and crafts. In my first class, they taught us how to make pot holders and build things with Popsicle sticks by gluing them together. It was so much fun. I guess this was the earliest telling of what was to unfold in the future years. I continued to play semi-pro baseball until the age of 38. I was also into weightlifting and even placed in a national competition. Sports and art have always been my passions. I was willing to put sports on hold for my art, though. And sports have always influenced my artwork. My first great influence in art was my craft teacher in high school, Shirley Charron. I was not an “A” student by any means and I did not excel in math or science. Ms. Charron knew I wasn’t a great student and encouraged me to apply for art school at Silvermine College of Arts. The college was holding interviews and all I had to do was make an appointment and bring my artwork. I was excited to find out that they didn’t need to know my S.A.T. scores. So I met with Dean Bob Gray and he liked my artwork. I became a student at the Silvermine College and received my Associate’s Degree from there. I went on to the Maryland Institute of Art where I received my Bachelor of Arts degree. I met several students from various backgrounds and different countries. I was fortunate for having great teachers and mentors along the way. Visiting artists were a big influence to me, as well. My college years helped greatly, keeping me out of the ‘real world’ and into the realm of creativity and free­ flowing ideas. After receiving my Masters Degree from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1977. I stayed in Chicago. I became ‘so-to-speak’ a “Chicago” artist, living in lofts, dreaming the dreams of becoming known and reaching for the stars. I was still quite naïve at the age of 30. Luckily, I kept my day job as a cleaning man. I worked hard during those years after graduate school and still do 28 years later. During those 28 years, I tried out for the Chicago White Sox...
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Jim Rose Standing found industrial objects 41h x 10w x 10d in 104.14h x 25.40w x 25.40d cm JR0355 Jim Rose b. 1966, d. 2023 Bio Born in Indiana, Jim Rose lived in Europe until he returned to the United States to attend college. After one year at Bard College, Jim transferred to the School of the Art Institute in Chicago (SAIC) where he graduated in 1988 with a BFA. His skillful interpretation of the Shaker design is a result of intense research and field study of Shaker furniture, architecture, culture and history. After over two decades of dedicated work, he has mastered the minimalism of the Shaker technique and created his own unique visual vernacular. The quilts of Gee's Bend have become a monumental influence taking this artist's work to new levels of unique interpretation and artistry. His selection of aged steel results in a patina directly related to that of aged wood while his colored strips beautifully mimic worn cloth. Each piece of furniture is masterfully made and intended for daily use. Jim Rose’s steel furniture is featured every year at SOFA Chicago for the past 25 years. Jim Rose b. 1966, Wisconsin Education 1989 B.F.A., Sculpture, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL 1988 Student at Large, Welding Technology, Triton College, Chicago, IL 1985 Undergraduate Photography Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York Awards 2008 Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship Award, Madison, WI. 2005 Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA 2003 Grant Recipient for Shaker Interpretations in Cast Iron, PA Arts Assoc / WI Arts Board 2003 Arts/Industry Residency Program for Visual Artists, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin Solo Exhibitions 2017 New Work, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI 2012 Simply Steel, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI 2007 Variation, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2003 New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2001 Shaker in Steel / New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2000 Shaker in Steel / New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1999 Hands and Heart to Steel III, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL National Exhibitions 2017-2018 SOFA Chicago – Gallery Victor Armendariz 2016 - 1995 SOFA Chicago, New York, Palm Beach - Ann Nathan Gallery 2011 - 2002 Art Chicago - Ann Nathan Gallery Group Exhibitions 2017 Coming Attractions: Inaugural Exhibition, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2017 Living with Art: The Newman Collection, 108 Contemporary, Tulsa, Oklahoma 2016 Form Follows Function: The Intersection of Art and Craft, The Hardy Gallery, Ephraim, Wi 2015 NEO, Chipstone Foundation, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI 2015 ICFF, Furniture Society, Javits Convention Center, New York City, NY 2013 Vahki Revisited, The Enduring Spirit of a Craft Collection” Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, AZ 2013 Fearless Furniture, Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, Indianapolis, IN 2013 Inaugural Exhibition, Museum Wisconsin of Art, West Bend, WI 2012 Sitting Pretty: Furniture from RAM’s Collection, Racine Art Museum, WI 2011 Hiding Places: Memory in the Arts, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, WI 2010 Living with Art, Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua Institution, NY 2009 Summer in Wisconsin, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI 2009 High Honors, James Watrous Gallery, Madison, WI 2008 Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary, Museum of Art and Design, NY 2007 Transformation 5: Contemporary Works in Found Materials, Art Association, Jackson, WY 2007 Transformation 5: Contemporary Works in Found Materials, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX (traveling exhibition) 2006 Show us Your Drawers, Herron School of Art, Indianapolis, IN 2006 Marriage of the Minds, Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art, Sturgeon Bay, WI 2006 27th Annual Contemporary Crafts, Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, AZ 2006 Containers of All Dimensions, Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, AZ 2005 Transformation 5: Contemporary Works in Found Materials, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA 2004 Right at Home: American Studio Furniture, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. 2004 American Collections, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI 2004 More Than Drawers-Wisconsin Cabinets, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI 2004 Objects of Wonder, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI 2003 Planting, Potting and Pruning, Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine, WI 2003 Men at Work, Miller Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay, WI 2002 Case Pieces: Contemporary Studio Furniture, Elvehjem Museum of Art, Univ of WI-Madison 2002 Sitting Pretty: Contemporary Wisconsin Chairs, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI 2001 Anything with a Drawer - Award Recipient, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ 2001 23rd Annual Contemporary Crafts - Award Recipient, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ 2000 New Talent in Craft, Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine, Wisconsin 2000 Who Knows Where or When, Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine, Wisconsin 1999 The End is Near! Artists look at the 20th Century, Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine, WI Selected collections Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, Arizona The Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin Kohler Company, Kohler, Wisconsin Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, Indianapolis, Indiana The Chipstone Foundation, Fox Point, Wisconsin Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, Wisconsin Publications “Selected Artists of Door County” Stonehill Publishing, 2016 “Galvanized Chest” Door County Living Magazine, Autumn 2012 “100 Artists of the Midwest” Schiffer Books, 2012 “Piecework” American Craft Magazine, February 2012 “Hiding Places, Memory in the Arts” John Michael Kohler Arts Center, June 2011 “Second Lives, Remixing the Ordinary” Museum of Arts and Design, NY, August 2008 “Studio Furniture” Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, DC, May 2008 “Discoveries by Designers” Architectural Digest, December 2005 “Contemporary Metal Furniture” Metalsmith Magazine, Winter 2003 “Studio Case Furniture: The Inside Story” American Craft Magazine, October 2002 “Contemporary Studio Case Furniture: The Inside Story” Elvehjem Museum of Art, 2002 “Chicago Style...
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