“A Vocabulary of Trees” – New Sculpture by Robert Braczyk

“415”, 21½ x 17½ x 10¼ in., maple, 2020

 Exhibition Dates: January 3 to 28, 2023 

Opening Reception: Thursday, January 5, 2023, 5 – 8 PM

Gallery Talk: Saturday, January 14, 4 PM  

The Bowery Gallery is pleased to present Robert Braczyk’s recent sculpture.  These wood constructions further Mr. Braczyk’s exploration of form in space and the possibilities of what contemporary sculpture can be. In them he considers the efflorescent forces of tree growth and the structures they produce. Like their inspiration the pieces have both internal and external space and are emphatically three dimensional. They are an actualization of material as subject.

With his skills as a wood worker Mr. Braczyk reconfigures tree branches through insights gained from a lifetime studying nature and the human figure. Not surprisingly then, each piece is a direct dialogue with nature. In them he balances his foundational experiences growing up in rural Massachusetts in a family of wood workers and a lifetime in the art world with the opinions that the tree elements themselves embody.

Though not a part of the original concept there is inevitably an element of environmentalism in the work.  Without being didactic the artist feels that these sculptures join a rising awareness of the importance of the natural world and in particular trees.

Mr. Braczyk is the recipient of the Geer prize for portrait modeling and The Daniel Chester French Medal for figurative sculpture from The National Academy of Design. 

He has taught sculpture and anatomy at the New York Academy of Art and the 92nd Street Y. His work has received notices in print nationally, including the New York Times. He is the author of the novel “The Lady of the Lake” which has as a major theme the formative influence of geography and place on our lives.