Bryan Hunt

Danese is pleased to announce its first exhibition of sculpture by Bryan Hunt. The opening reception will be held Thursday, October 12, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., and the exhibition will continue through November 11.

At the heart of this exhibition are three large scale, vertical sculptures entitled Flume I, II and III. These arcing, curvilinear works, measuring up to ten feet in height, convey a sense of water flowing through a narrow channel, “soaring upward at the same time that they plunge downward…cascading forms, whose earthly surround is absent.”

In the 1970’s, Hunt first began to think of “water itself as a sculptural subject and of giving liquid a tangible form,” and created a series of “lakes” and “waterfalls.” “He may have been inspired by the very process of bronze casting, in which molten metal cools into a solid.”¹ In his new work, Hunt again demonstrates his love and fascination for the natural world and the physical dynamics of water – its turbulence, speed, compressed power, liquidity and force. The Flumes were cast in bronze or aluminum over the last year. Their expressive and richly modeled surfaces were developed from wet clay, as opposed to plaster, allowing the artist a greater freedom of manipulation and gesture.

Born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1947, Bryan Hunt received his BFA at the Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles and completed an independent study program through the Whitney Museum of American Art. His work is included in the collections of many major museums, among them, the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater Conservancy, Bear Run, PA, the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C., the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Bryan Hunt lives and works in New York City and Long Island.

On October 4, 2006, New York City unveiled Hunt’s new outdoor, public sculpture entitled Coenties Ship. This twenty-one foot tall sculpture, fabricated from stainless steel and glass, was commissioned by the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Transportation. It is located at Coenties Slip Park in lower Manhattan, a site mentioned on the first page of Melville’s Moby Dick: “Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you see? – Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries.”

Bryan Hunt

Press Release

Flume

October 13 – November 11, 2006

¹ Sandler, Irving. “Bryan Hunt,” 1997.

	Flume October 13 – November 11, 2006
		flume (noun) (1) A deep natural gorge or ravine, through which a stream flows (2) An artificial channel serving as a chute for carrying water to furnish power or to transport items (3) In hydraulics, a channel used for studying the flow of liquids under gravity. ORIGIN Middle English (denoting a river or stream): from old French flum, from Latin flumen “river,” from fleure “to flow.”
	Danese is pleased to announce its first exhibition of sculpture by Bryan Hunt. The opening reception will be held Thursday, October 12, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., and the exhibition will continue through November 11. At the heart of this exhibition are three large scale, vertical sculptures entitled Flume I, II and III. These arcing, curvilinear works, measuring up to ten feet in height, convey a sense of water flowing through a narrow channel, “soaring upward at the same time that they plunge downward…cascading forms, whose earthly surround is absent.” In the 1970’s, Hunt first began to think of “water itself as a sculptural subject and of giving liquid a tangible form,” and created a series of “lakes” and “waterfalls.” “He may have been inspired by the very process of bronze casting, in which molten metal cools into a solid.”¹ In his new work, Hunt again demonstrates his love and fascination for the natural world and the physical dynamics of water – its turbulence, speed, compressed power, liquidity and force. The Flumes were cast in bronze or aluminum over the last year. Their expressive and richly modeled surfaces were developed from wet clay, as opposed to plaster, allowing the artist a greater freedom of manipulation and gesture. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1947, Bryan Hunt received his BFA at the Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles and completed an independent study program through the Whitney Museum of American Art. His work is included in the collections of many major museums, among them, the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater Conservancy, Bear Run, PA, the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C., the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Bryan Hunt lives and works in New York City and Long Island. On October 4, 2006, New York City unveiled Hunt’s new outdoor, public sculpture entitled Coenties Ship. This twenty-one foot tall sculpture, fabricated from stainless steel and glass, was commissioned by the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Transportation. It is located at Coenties Slip Park in lower Manhattan, a site mentioned on the first page of Melville’s Moby Dick: “Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you see? – Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries.” ¹ Sandler, Irving. “Bryan Hunt,” 1997.

Bryan Hunt

Press Release

Flume October 13 – November 11, 2006

1 Sandler, Irving. “Bryan Hunt,” 1997.

Flume

October 13 – November 11, 2006

¹ Sandler, Irving. “Bryan Hunt,” 1997.