Using balance, proportion, and his unique sense of harmony, Don Gummer is able to make durable materials seem almost buoyant through his subtly inventive freestanding sculptures, often of monumental size.
The trajectory of Don Gummer's career as a sculptor began in New York City in the late 1970s with his wall reliefs of painted wood, carefully layered geometric works exhibiting a strong architectural influence. Moving beyond wood to stone, bronze, stainless steel, aluminum, and glass as his primary materials, his artworks evolved into subtly inventive freestanding sculptures, often of monumental scale, that exhibit his unfailing attention to craftsmanship and detail.
In a 2001 interviewe with Peter Plagens, American artist and art critic, Gummer described his interest in sculpture as "the recontextualization of natural phenomena, of unaltered things brought into aesthetic balance by choosing and placing." Using balance, proportion, and his unique sense of harmony, the artist is able to make durable materials seem almost buoyant. Negative space becomes an intrinsic element in his work, imparting a sense that his exquisite, seemingly permanent forms are ultimately as fleeting as any of nature's creations would be. The Artist Book Foundation is delighted to present Don Gummer, a new monograph on the artist and his highly acclaimed body of work.