(Doylestown, PA) The James A. Michener Art Museum will host a landmark exhibition of world-renowned sculptor, Steve Tobin. Out of This World: Works by Steve Tobin opens on June 28 and will feature his monumental works in steel, bronze and clay.
This solo exhibition will feature a broad range of Tobin’s works from the past decade, including massive Steelroots, Exploded Earth vessels, and the groundbreaking Forest Floors from the artist’s acclaimed Earth Bronzes series.
Museum Director & CEO, Lisa Tremper Hanover, is serving as chief curator for this exhibition that will be on view in the Paton|Smith|Della Penna-Fernberger Galleries, the Fred Beans Gallery, the Sculpture Garden and the Outdoor Sculpture Program. In addition to works on view at the Museum, Hanover is organizing outdoor public placements of Steelroots and bronze Walking Roots throughout Doylestown. Hanover envisioned the exhibition as a way to re-introduce Tobin’s work in his own backyard, giving the community the opportunity of both experiencing and celebrating the artist’s vast depth and diversity of artwork.
Extra added attraction on opening day, June 28 — You are invited to a special day at Fordhook Farm in Doylestown, PA, as part of The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program. The monumental sculpture of Steve Tobin is featured on the grounds and within the extensive gardens associated with the W. Atlee Burpee Company. To receive your complimentary pass to Fordhook Farm, first visit the Michener Art Museum on June 28 and pay general admission or show your membership card. This extraordinary opportunity to visit Fordhook Farm was made possible through the generosity of George Ball, Chairman and CEO of W. Atlee Burpee Company.
Tobin has exhibited extensively throughout the world, including New York’s American Museum of Natural History; the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art campus complex in Los Angeles; and in museums, art fairs and public sites in Italy, Russia, China and Finland.
Tobin is best known for his epic work, The Trinity Root, which is permanently sited on the corner of Wall Street and Broadway in Lower Manhattan. The first public memorial to the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, The Trinity Root is a bronze casting of the “sycamore tree that saved St. Paul’s Chapel” on that fateful day. The sculpture was dedicated on the four-year anniversary of the attacks and attracts more than a million visitors annually.
“The long arc of Steve Tobin’s success will be celebrated at the Michener with a dynamic installation that recalls his own roots in Bucks County and the Philadelphia region,” said Hanover. “The soaring steel sculptures echo the stretched elegance of his early glass work; and the Earth Bronzes are filled with whimsy and capture the residue of a forest floor, complete with pine needles and insects. Visitors will be confronted with an array of exploded clay vessels that reveal majestic interiors of glass and dynamite-incised textures. We are proud to present Tobin’s work in his hometown to an audience eager to interact with articulate and engaging artists.”
“I thank Lisa and the Michener for the opportunity of bringing it all back home,” said Tobin. “While my work has taken me far and wide, from the deserts of Ghana to the caves of Nutijarva, Finland, its genesis and inspiration originated in the treehouse of my youth, along Philadelphia’s Main Line.”
The exhibition will be augmented by numerous programs, including lectures and gallery talks, organized visits to Tobin’s Quakertown studio, and contemporary dance by regional performers inspired by the lyrical lines of the sculptures.
The James A. Michener Art Museum is located at 138 South Pine St., Doylestown, PA. The museum is open Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 am – 4:30 pm; Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm and Sunday noon – 5:00 pm. For more information, visit MichenerArtMuseum.org or call 215.340.9800.