VICTOR STABIN :: FRITZ SPOKAS
QUALITY CONTROL: Celebrating the Triumph of Art and Industry
AUG 14 - Sept 30, 2004
JIM THORPE, PA August 4 / -- The Stabin Morykin Gallery is pleased to present Quality Control, an exhibition that explores concepts of design, production and quality control and therein celebrates the industrial art of wood pattern making. The installation features works by Victor Stabin and Fritz Spokas.
The central forms used in the installation are antique wooden patterns for machinery produced for the old Reading Railroad. Artist Victor Stabin creates whimsical sculptures, sacrilegiously embedding molds of teeth into his constructions, industrial vestiges of a manufacturing revolution that gnawed into the American psyche.
Following the initial design phase, pattern makers and sculptors working from detailed drawings develop wood patterns from which production molds can be formed. Molds are created specifically for each unique component. Rarely are parts mass-produced -- the level of quality in each final piece directly relates to the precision of their accompanying patterns and tooling. Each pattern maker is trained and expertly skilled in transforming wood into elaborate tooling.
Contemporary wooden patterns have also been employed to create Stabin’s imaginative “turtle frames” – each hand poured and worked on by local, highly skilled master crafts/tradesmen.
Working primarily with indigenous hardwoods, Fritz Spokas creates functional and decorative objects that are known and collected for their refinement and elegance. By working in the traditional manner, directly from the log, he maximizes the wood's beauty and character. Quality Control is Fritz Spokas’ first group show at the Stabin Morykin Gallery.
As artists in the post industrial revolution, Stabin and Spokas pay a strong tribute to the history of work in the trades. Their works explore the vanguard of human labor and the changing nature of work in the digital era.
The exhibition will be on view at the Stabin Morykin Gallery, 31 Race Street, Jim Thorpe. There will be a reception for the artists on Saturday, August 14 from 6 – 9 pm.
For further information, please contact the gallery.
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