Ceramic Sculptures 1975 and Drawings 2007-08

Robert Graham's unique ceramic sculptures and recent drawings are the subject of an exhibition at Frank Lloyd Gallery. Graham, well-known for his monumental bronze sculptures and civic monuments, has previously worked in fired clay. Like many sculptors, his ceramic sculptures convey a direct relationship to his other works, and for Graham the pieces continue his investigation of the female form. Many of these works were exhibited in an important show at the legendary Nicholas Wilder Gallery in 1975. The exhibit continues the gallery's expanded exhibition program and presents ceramics in an historical context.

Graham's fluid and gestural recent drawings will also be exhibited with the artist's ceramic sculpture. His use of melted beeswax mixed with pigment, which is quickly and freely applied with a brush, is reminiscent of Sumi ink paintings. There is a realization of form within the drawings, and an immediacy of touch that reveals the sculptor's working process and directness.

The spontaneity, tactility and expression of form are observed in both the recent drawings and ceramic works that were created over 33 years ago.

Robert Graham was born in Mexico City in 1938 and studied at San Jose State University (B.A., 1963) and San Francisco Art Institute (M.F.A., 1964). Graham's work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and over twenty other museums worldwide. Commissioned sculptural installations include The Great Bronze Doors of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, the Charlie Parker Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, and the Duke Ellington Monument in New York City, and the FDR Memorial in Washington DC.