 Portfolio of
Robert Cantor
Interview with Artist
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Psychological States #9
Artist Statement
MY SCULPTURE IS BEING SHOWN AT TWO GALLERIES IN CALIFORNIA: THE DESTA GALLERY in San Anselmo, and the ACCI GALLERY in Berkeley. And one sculpture was recently awarded Best in Show at the Falkirk Culture Center Juried Art Exhibition, San Rafael, California. Another bronze sculpture was just juried into the National Sculpture Society show at the Sonya Sparks Gallery in San Diego, California.
“My work always begins with the human figure. I create these figures, often stylized, in the hope that through movement, kinetic tension, the exaggeration of form, or the sheer beauty of line, some thoughtful and heartfelt aspect of human experience will be revealed. For me, the most moving of all sculptural forms are those that capture the psychological ambiguities, conflicts, emotions, and hidden meanings of everyday life.
Some of the galleries have more specialized themes:
The "Anatomy of Melancholy" series consists of eleven pieces that portray the reflective nature of this familiar bittersweet experience. They start with the figurative, become more stylized in nature, and finally evolve into more abstract forms.
The "Theme and Variation" series takes the evolution idea a step further by having the evolution of form take place in the same sculpture, including playing with images from Picasso, Matisse, Brancusi, Giacometti, Botero, and Maillol.
Yet another, Secret Obsessions, consists of six bronze sculptures in which I play with the concepts of persona, shame, loss, and exposure. The images emerged quite spontaneously but in making these forms, I’ve then tried to capture a distorted, sometimes humorous, but always faithful depiction of human character and experience; as in a dream when someone appears strange but recognizable, usually because some essence or private obsession is exposed. There is no doubt that working with people for three decades as a clinical psychologist has influenced these images and ideas.
The Ecstatic Moments series is an attempt to capture those rare fleeting experiences of life, moments when we have an extraordinary feeling of some greater meaning or understanding. Art, love, children, nature, drugs, sex, meditation, purposeful work, and ecstatic dance are just some of the things that can induce such transcendent states. This series of stylized "dance" sculptures attempts to portray the spirit of these moments.
A series of "Psychological States" emerged without warning. After the election, I found myself making these anguished forms, images that clearly reflected my distress about what was happening in our country. The series started with 10 "Trump Trauma" images and then continued with more subtle emotional and psychological experiences that reflect some of my work as a clinical psychologist.
With "Intimate Moments", I've tried to portray some of both the difficult and harmonious experiences that are the essence of long term relationships in this series of bronze forms.
And in the latest work, during the Pandemic and Shelter In Place months of 2020, I sat at the kitchen table and these Epoxy figures emerged quite spontaneously. They seem to reflect many of the subtle experiences of this surreal time
In making all of these sculpted forms, my desire is to arouse something visceral; to comfort, to induce a chuckle, to invite reflection, and on occasion, to startle, to make the hairs stand up on your neck.”
Biography
Bob Cantor has been a clinical psychologist in San Francisco since 1973. He was an Associate Professor on the full-time faculty of the University of California, San Francisco for ten years and has been in private practice for over thirty years. He has also published two books: "And A Time To Live" (1980, Harper and Row, nominated and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize) and a novel, "Of Struggle and Flight" (1990, Little Viking).
Art and sculpture have been a life long passion. He has studied with Alan Kaprow (Rutgers University), Mogens Moller (Royal College of Copenhagen), Jesus Mendes (Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende), and Jack Kreutzer (Loveland, Colorado).
At present, his work is on display at the Desta Gallery in Mill Valley, the ACCI Gallery in Berkeley, and the Thousand Oaks Gallery, Albany, California. His prize-winning sculpture has been collected throughout the United Satates; featured in the 2005 Spring issue of "Direct Art Magazine", and awarded a coveted place in 2006's "Best Artists of California".
Resumè
May 1999 Artisans Gallery
Mill Valley, California
Featured Artist
August 2001 Artisans Gallery
Mill Valley, California
Merit Award, Juried Group Show
September 2001 Artisans Gallery
Mill Valley, California
Sculpture Prize, National Juried Exhibit
January 2003 Artisans Gallery
Mill Valley, California
Featured Artist, Humor and Art Show
May 2003 Rebecca Bruce L'Atelier
Mill Valley, California
Solo Exhibit
September 2003 Artisans Gallery
Mill Valley, California
Merit Award, National Juried Exhibit
October 2003 Alameda Art Center
Alameda, California
Merit Award, Juried Show
August 2004 Alameda Art Center
Alameda, California
Group Show
June 2004 142 Throckmorton Theater
Mill Valley, California
Two Person Exhibit
August 2004 Alameda Art Center
Alameda, California
Featured Artist, Juried Show
October 2004 Artisans Gallery
Mill Valley, California
Group Show
December 2004 di Rossa Preserve Gallery
Napa, California
Juried Exhibit
January 2005 Alameda Art Center Alameda, Group Show
Spring 2005 Direct Art Magazine, Vol. 11
Slow Art, New York, New York
Half Page Award, National Juried Competition
February 2005 Alameda Art Center
Alameda, California
Group Juried Show
June 2005 Artisans Gallery
San Rafael, California
Group Sculpture Show
December 2005 ACCI Gallery
Berkeley, California
Christmas Show
February 2006 Artisans Gallery
San Rafeal, California
Juried Show
May 2006 ACCI Gallery
Berkeley, California
Featured Artist
Fall 2006 Best Artists of California
featured artist, sculpture
March 2007 ACCI Gallery
"SOMEBODY"
Berkeley, California
Featured Artist
March 2008 ACCI Gallery
"In The Round"
Berkeley, California
Featured Artist
October, 2008 Zeta Gallery
Lafayette, California
Featured Artist
February 2009 ACCI Gallery
Mixed Media Exhibit
Berkeley, California
Featured Artist
March 2009 Plaza Arts Gallery
"Chiselers" Sculpture Show
Healdsburg, California
Merit Award for "Body of Work"
March 2010 ACCI Gallery
"Swagger: A Celebration of the Body"
Berkeley, California
Featured Artist
June 2015 ACCI Gallery
Berkeley, California
Desta Gallery
San Anselmo, California
December 2015, January, 2016, September, 2017
Featured Artist
October and November 2016
Falkirk Cultural Center
San Rafael, California
National Juried Art Exhibition
Best in Show
June and July 2019
Delta Gallery
San Anselmo, California
Featured Artist
Shows
Desta Gallery
San Anselmo, California
Current
Featured Artist
Galleries
Desta Gallery, San Anselmo, Calif.
ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, Calif.
Zeta Gallery, Lafayette, Calif.
Plaza Arts Gallery, Healdsburg, California
888 Gallery, San Rafeal, California
Thousand Oaks Gallery, Albany, California
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