Norman Rockwell Museum Announces Robot Nation Winners
Stanley, robot, cast bronze Photograph by Jeremy Clowe for Norman Rockwell Museum. ©2011 Norman Rockwell Museum.
The Norman Rockwell Museum, based in Stockbridge, MA, recently announced the winning entries for its new outdoor sculpture exhibition, "Robot Nation: An Outdoor Installation for the 21st Century." The juried show opened at the museum on Saturday, July 16, and commendations for outstanding work were awarded by a panel of art professionals.
Inspired by Blue Sky Studios' 2005 movie "Robots," the exhibition will be on view through October 31, 2011, and run concurrently with the Museum's other new exhibition "'Ice Age' to the Digital Age: The 3D Animation Art of Blue Sky Studios."
Each entry paid homage to the Steampunk movement, and featured robots crafted out of reclaimed metal, gadgets, and other ornate materials inspired by the Victorian era.
"SuperBot: Best in Show" wasawarded to Matt Evald Johnson for his imaginative sculpture "David." Greeting visitors at the Museum's main entrance, the immense construction is a creative retelling of the story of "David and Goliath" in fabricated, reclaimed metal. The "SteamPunkBot" award went to "The Inquisitive Nomad", a smaller piece made out of cast bronze, the golden sculpture incorporates both sci-fi and fantasy elements by Vincent Villafranca.
The "Modbot" award went to Angelo J. Sinisi's "Regal Robot," which lives up to its name in sculpted steel, brass, and copper. "ArtBot" was awarded to "Hobb's Claw-Robotic Mining Sawblade Prototype C7218A1-6," created by artist Stephen Klema. Constructed out of wood and metal, the "futuristic" sculpture is intended to look as if it was created during the atomic age of the early 1950s. Continuing on this theme, the awards "Classic Bot" and "WowBot Viewer's Choice" went to Steve Heller for his humorous "Mr. Fahrenheit" figure, made out of chrome, stainless steel, aluminum and thermometer. Finally, the "KidBot Children's Choice" goes to "The Shaman" by artist John Catalano. Created out of fabricated, reclaimed steel, and seeming to channel both the Muppets and robotics, Catalano's sculpture adds another fun visual element to the Museum's grounds this summer.
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Also in this Issue:
- Tallmadge Doyle: Shifting the Focus from Print to Plate
- Melissa Strawser: In Gratitude of Amphibia and Insecta
- Elizabeth Emison Metalworks: "Life Is Short, Buy The Shoes"
- Alison Saar’s Feallen and Fallow
- Norman Rockwell Museum Announces Robot Nation Winners