Tom Otterness: Gold Rush, New Sculpture and Drawings

Tom Otterness

Description

Tom Otterness, who began his career as a public artist in 1978, continues his signature work with figurative cast bronze sculpture. With his distinctive combination of narrative, whimsy, economic and political commentary his "button-faced" characters take on the Gold Rush era of California history. Otterness has included families in covered wagons, miners panning for gold, Native Americans fishing for salmon as well as important animal symbols of the West such as the majestic buffalo, the American eagle and California's bear.

The sculptures in this exhibition are based upon the individual works from the installation Gold Rush, commissioned in 1995 by the General Services Administration for the plaza of the new Federal Courthouse in Sacramento and was installed in January of this year. Otterness is known for his ability to create an environment where the sculpture interacts with the surrounding architecture. For the Sacramento installation Otterness decided to create a historical diorama focusing on the fountain area of the entry plaza which he used to symbolize the Sacramento River that was so crucial to the history of the Central Valley of California.