Mastering the Contemporary at MADSEN Gallery
A new exhibition of sculpture by local, international artist Oleg Lobykin, “Cube Series,” is on view now in Los Altos. Lobykin’s latest CUBE Series is a part of his “Diversity and Form” show of contemporary sculpture and paintings.
Lobykin is known by prominent hotels, universities, churches, and commercial and residential contractors for his Stonesculpt business, specializing in custom fine stonework and stone masonry restoration. Two of his prominent classical sculptures – of Benjamin Franklin and Johann Gutenberg on pedestals at Wallenberg Hall – can be seen at Main Quad on the Stanford University campus. In his early days in the U.S., he received Honorary Citizenship from the state of Alabama for his contribution to creating “The Alabama Column,” a 23-foot column carved directly into the side a mountain at the entrance of a limestone quarry.
This is the first time a significant body of this master stone sculptor’s contemporary work is on view. While he’s a classically trained master stone carver, as an artist and sculptor, Oleg works in a variety of materials to express his conceptually driven ideas in novel sculptural form, experimenting with texture, materials, color, or interactive elements. He finds inspiration in the natural world and the mystery of transformation, particularly the connection between human beings and nature. The current exhibition features diverse works that are based on organic shapes, geometric forms, and abstract representations of life under a microscope on a human scale.
Originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, Oleg considers himself an international man and a product of inevitable globalization. He lives and works in Silicon Valley with a focus on public arts and works on commission. One desire is for his double-award-winning, chromium-plated bronze piece PIXEL to be realized in large format public art, representing Silicon Valley, on par with Cloud Gate aka “The Bean” by Anish Kapoor in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Lobykin’s Talking Heads, a 18-foot abstract sculpture, is currently on loan to the prestigious City of Newport Beach Sculpture Park.
He is a regular contributor to Burning Man, displaying his art over many years. This past summer, he brought three large-scale works, including the 8-foot polished stainless steel Meta Girl, who is now on temporary display in San Francisco on 3rd Street next to SFMOMA.
Lobykin’s new CUBE series features works in mirror-polished stainless steel. They are playful musings on geometry and reflections. They evoke building blocks in a high-tech world where perception is ever-changing. As we live increasingly in both a physical and digital world, how is our conception of reality changing? These works show us ourselves, our surroundings, and our connection to the worlds we both create and inhabit.
The six pieces comprising his CUBE series are photographed to highlight how private and corporate collectors and public arts commissions might view the pieces relevant to the potential placement location. All works are available for purchase and pieces may be created in larger scale by commission.
Lobykin’s contemporary work is an ongoing search for the origins of form and exploration of portals to other dimensions. What are those basic elements, or building blocks, that can create any complex form? Much of his work depicts aspects of the interplay between form and space. Lobykin notes that “Form is evidence of physical existence.”
He works primarily in abstract sculpture using natural stone, bronze, and mirror-polished stainless steel, using traditional methods and today’s technology in art-making. Art has the ability to move and unite people, and helps them look at the world with a new perspective. He sees sculpture as a bridge between imagination and reality.
His recent pieces show how twists in form can create a sense of movement in a stationary, three-dimensional object. They often repeat a number of organically curved lines and circles arranged in different ways, and draw attention to a balance of positive and negative spaces. Many can be seen as meditations on the interactions of substance and void.
These works express a vocabulary that translates his interest in streamlined arcs and curves, free lines, metamorphic sub-structures, and sensations of light and levitation.
Reflections provide interaction, and the viewer’s movement in space changes the appearance of the work. Interacting with the diversity of works presented, we can reflect on how our differences can allow us to more fully appreciate things, like art, that truly make us human.
Lobykin has won numerous awards for his work and has gained prominent placements, has completed a number of projects in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Japan. Talking Heads, his 18-foot abstract sculpture is currently on loan to the prestigious City of Newport Beach Sculpture Park. Clients have included Stanford University, The Presidio Trust, The City of Cupertino, The City of San Jose, Cathedral Stoneworks Inc., The Denver Public Library, Yale University, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Cloisters), The Cathedral Church St. John the Divine, and The Jewish Museum NYC.
You will be able to meet the artist Oleg Lobykin at December 11 from 4 to 6 PM in MADSEN gallery, located at 351 Main Street, Los Altos.
We open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 am to 3 pm. More information including contact information can be found at www.apmadsen.com.
Amy Madsen
