Abstraction and Scale - Minimalist sculptor Jane Manus breaks the mold
March 31, 2023 - By Avalon Ashley Bellos for the Downtown Express
The Venus of Willendorf, dating to the Upper Paleolithic age around 28,000 BCE, is one of the oldest sculptures known. The small figurine can fit in one’s hand and yet it transports its viewers to a time and place unknown to any modern mind. This is the power of sculpture – it is a creation that allows the challenge of our realities and further proposes an essence of truth that no other human medium has been able to attain. From ancient Egypt to the Renaissance, the physical manifestation of the world has been thoroughly exposed.
In 1913, however, artist Alexsei Gam and his peers changed the course and use if sculpture as a defiant measure. At once declaring an “uncompromising war on art” - in an effort to curry support for revolution – constructivist sculptors scoffed at the paintbrush and instead created works that defied scale. Industrial and unrelenting, this form of sculpture helped to define an entire art movement.
Jane Manus is a modern-day abstract sculptor and minimalist carrying the torch of those that came before her. Born in 1951 in New York City, Manus was inspired by the industrial materials and aesthetics of early constructivist revolutionaries. Working with an enticing type of geometry, gravity, and asymmetry, Manus’ sculptures are welded from metal and incorporate jewel tones of deep blues, reds, and yellows. Manus had her first exhibition in the 1970s and continues to be exhibited and showcased all around the world due to the strength of her exhibitions.
Though slightly less literal in the urge for revolution, a woman wielding the tools of creation is no less rebellious. Seamlessly, the artist has the ability to translate space and form. Like a warrior herself, Manus is able to render metal with sophistication and elegance – yes – but also with a great sense of subversive brilliance. The staggering scale of her work is in itself a rebellion to perception and sensory experience. With monumental grace, the work requires the viewer to take charge of the narrative and further completes the mission of the artist. In other words: to view Jane Manus’ world-famous sculptures is to also engage in one’s own manifestations of both reality and emotion. Certainly considered a trailblazing artist that is continuing to expand the concept of sculpture – Manus is a devoted sculptor that deserves to be celebrated.
On View Currently
Sponder Gallery, Boca Raton, FL, The Lincoln Center/List Collection, Cricket Taplin Collection, Miami, FL
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