IN SEARCH OF SHADOWS:
JAMES HUBBELL SCULPTURE
February 3 - June 9, 2013
Bob and Estelle Gleason Gallery
James Hubbell’s wide-ranging practice - public sculpture, architecture, stained-glass, sculpture, mosaic, painting, drawing and poetry – has sought to express his deep reverence for nature, a long-standing and primary source of inspiration for his art. His passion and innovation, and his consistently visually arresting work that evokes and engages with the mystery and beauty of our natural environment, has made Hubbell a leading artist of his generation and a San Diego treasure.
Oceanside Museum of Art is proud to present the first museum exhibition devoted to Hubbell’s extensive sculptural oeuvre. Featuring over 30 sculptures from the past 50 years of his career, In Search of Shadows explores Hubbell’s mastery of a diverse range of media including bronze, wood, glass and stone, highlighting the evolution of Hubbell’s nature-inspired sculptural style and the reoccurring threads that connect the work over the past five decades. Also featured will be a small display of architectural models and drawings that recognize the inseparable synergy between his sculpture and architecture. This exhibition is sponsored by Rudy and Elizabeth Van Hunnick.
“Sculpture, unlike most of the other art forms except architecture, casts a shadow and like ourselves, occupies three-dimensional spaces. Sculpture can be approached as another person and even though it is inanimate, it can create reality. It is there in front of you, not an illusion. It can, as music does, deal primarily with form and rhythm or, to varying degrees, bring remembered elements as part of its story or give us an introduction to an inner world, a world of light and shadow.”
- James Hubbell, 2012
The title of the exhibition, In Search of Shadows, reflects Hubbell’s interest in bringing awareness to the forms that are created from three-dimensional sculpture and the importance of understanding the visual language of sculpture: edge, line, form, mass, color, texture. Works on view will range in scale from hundred pound abstract bronze sculptures to more intimate pieces crafted from wood, showing Hubbell’s extraordinary craftsmanship and intuitive approach to his materials. Highlights of the exhibition include a new bronze gate that will welcome visitors into the exhibition and a careful selection of seminal pieces such as Bow and Blue Meadow woven together with a mix of small and medium scale bronze, wood and glass sculptures that meditate on his interpretations of nature. Abstract imagery in the work ranges from the curves of a nautilus shell or the energy of the ocean to the lines of a tree or wisteria growing on a branch.
Hubbell cites his travels in Europe as having an important role in his development as an artist. Experiencing the expressive style of Antonio Gaudi in Spain provided him a new vision for art and architecture and helped to form his belief that architecture could express the highest aspirations of the human spirit. Time in Africa and Asia has also influenced his work. The formal qualities of African sculpture can be seen directly in his figurative and abstract work, while the Buddhist philosophy prevalent in Asian culture is felt in Hubbell’s meditative and mindful approach.
In Search of Shadows: James Hubbell Sculpture is Oceanside Museum of Art’s third exhibition devoted to the artist. James Hubbell (1997) was a retrospective exhibition and James Hubbell: Meditations on Nature and Life (2003) featured watercolor paintings from 1988-2004 divided into four sections, California, United States and Abroad, After the Fire and a small section devoted to whimsical images. Hubbell’s buildings, artwork, and public park projects have garnered international interest and recognition, and have been featured in numerous articles and books, television programs on the Travel Channel and Home and Garden TV, and two documentaries produced by KPBS.
Artist and visionary designer James Hubbell resides in his iconic eight building compound in Santa Ysabel, California (1958-present). Along with running an architecture firm with his son Drew Hubbell, he maintains The Ilan Lael Foundation, a non-profit education foundation with the aim of helping artists become more involved within the fabric of the San Diego region. For additional information on Hubbell visit http://jameshubbellart.com/.
Above images by James Hubbell, left to right: Ancient Gift, Cast bronze original, c.2004; Untitled (detail), Forged copper, c.2003. Photos by John Durant.
