Hawaiian High Tide Inspired Vail Artwork
Betty Gold's Kaikoo III stands east of the Vail Library on West Meadow Drive near the Gore Creek Trail.
VAIL - Betty Gold, the artist who created Vail's Kaikoo III, was born in 1935 in Austin, Texas.
After earning a degree in elementary education and art history from the University of Texas, she was an apprentice to sculptor Octavio Medillan in Dallas. In 1990, Vail was fortunate to receive a monumental welded steel sculpture by Gold, from patrons and philanthropists David and Micki Chatkin of Pittsburgh, Pa. The Chatkins donate one of Gold's sculptures every year to a nonprofit organization of Gold's choice, and in 1990 she chose Vail's Art in Public Places.
A dedication ceremony took place in February of 1991 in conjunction with an exhibition of her paintings and maquettes (or working models for her larger scaled work) at the former gallery Arnesen Fine Arts in Lionshead.
Kaikoo III is one sculpture in a series of 17 works inspired by a trip to Hawaii. In a recent telephone conversation, Gold talked the trip that was pivotal to her work.
She was unable to enjoy the water activities and snorkeling because of the "kaikoo," the Hawaiian word for high tide. Because she could not go in the water, she found a desk and began creating the maquettes that would become the 17 monumental steel sculptures in her Kaikoo series.
"I turned my energy into work,"Gold said.
Gold begins her work with the form of a simple rectangle and "cuts it up." She reassembles her divided rectangle into three dimensional working maquettes and the result is the dramatic, non-objective geometrical steel sculpture. The elements of her works are welded into one, creating a "holistic" monumental work. Bold in color, most of Gold's sculptures are painted in primary colors, occasionally in white or in their natural steel patina.
Gold's work is in hundreds of public and private collections around the world. Gold's sculptures may be found at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of art at Pepperdine University, the Duke University Medical Center, Baylor University, the U.S. Embassy in Slovakia, the Ronald Reagan California State Building, the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, Korea, the Albuquerque Art Museum, and the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.
Gold currently lives in Venice, CA, and Palma de Mallorca, Spain and is working on sculptures for forthcoming international exhibitions.
Visit www.artinvail.com to see a calendar of dates for free guided art tours of Vail's public art collection.
Molly Eppard is Vail's art in public places coordinator. The Vail Daily is running weekly spotlights on public art in Vail over the next few months.
Molly Eppard
Art in Public Places Spotlight
Vail, CO Colorado
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Betty Gold: Color'form
Majestad V, 2009
Betty Gold
Steel and paint
96" x 48" x 36"
Photo: courtesy of Gebert Gallery
LOS ANGELES
Betty Gold: “Color’form”
at Gebert Gallery, Venice, CA
Painter and sculptor Betty Gold takes science as the starting point for her lush geometrical abstractions. As she herself often notes, geometry means the measuring of the earth, and her primary structural foundation is the human body. In her naturalism, laws being derived from nature must therefore be universally applicable. Her precision atmospherics describe a kind of bridge between art and science, exploring sensuality and unique experience, while never losing sight of science’s basis in observed phenomena. Her paintings on canvas and paper tend to portray variations on a fluid choreography of translucent lily-pad-like slices, kaleidoscopic sound waves, and tidal cross-sections with very little spatial dimensions inside the picture plane in an explosion of scale a la “Fantastic Voyage.” Then again, Picos II (acrylic on handmade paper, 50 x 36 inches) could almost be a pine forest, or a parsed agrarian landscape. That’s the point of geometry—its conclusions can reliably be sustained across macro and micro matters.
Betty Gold: Gebert Gallery
Vellas XII, 2007
Painted steel
76 5/8 × 21 5/8 × 12 7/8 in
194.6 × 54.9 × 32.7 cm
Stately, but subtle with its yellow- and white-painted steel, Velas XII — inspired by the winsome sailboats breeze by Venice Beach — commands an appreciable space in the survey of artist Betty Gold’s sculptures and acrylic paintings at Gebert Gallery.
Her newest series, Velas reflects the sails’ grace and elegance in the simple, geometric fashion that has distinguished gold for 40 years.
At 76x24x12 inches, Velas XII invites more than imposes; the four beaming steel triangles that compose the sail offer a 360-degree experience. The sculpture gains its sense of movement from the inwardly angled pieces, each painted yellow on one side, white on the other.
Installed close to the gallery entrance, the piece signals a dynamic show ahead. They survey exhibition features sculptures from several series — most notably, Majestad, which honors the king and queen of Spain, and Tirón, inspired by the angular folds of a bullfighter’s cape. Gold started the Tirón sculptures in 1999 with a monumental installation for the city of Palma de Mallorca in Baleares, Spain. The U.S. Embassy in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava also commissioned a large piece from the series. Works from the Soller and M.A. (Mallorca) series also appear in the exhibition.
Gold revels in her transcendent, albeit ferociously physical process — from making paper models to splaying two-dimensional sheets of steel and reassembling them in three-dimensional forms. They appear simple, but on close examination reveal a complexity that bespeaks the artist’s intense organization and exacting process.
A willowy former beauty pageant winner with jet-black hair and a native Texas twang, Gold hardly seems the type to cut, weld, and grind Cor-Ten steel. Yet she emerged a bona fide pioneer in a male-dominated field and produced a gutsy body of work that spans four decades. This exhibition celebrates her work with a fine installation augmented with two new acrylic paintings on canvases and 10 more on handmade paper.
Whether two or three-dimensional, each piece contributes to an evenly curated show. Her work is often associated with the obscure MADI movement. The acronym MADI is something of a mystery. First articulated in 1946 by Uruguayan artist Carmelo Arden Quin, MADI could stand for four major art principles: movement, abstraction, dimension, and invention. Some say it stands for MAterialismo DIalectismo. Still others say the word, like Dada, was invented. Nevertheless, it landed Gold in movement retrospective at the Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain in 1997.
The simplicity and sophistication of the geometry represents the dynamic and compelling nature of Gold’s work — bright, thoughtful, and jutting with endless possibilities.
- Steven Biller
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Betty Gold: The Mallorca Series
Mallorca II, 2012-2014
Powder coated steel sculpture
28 × 24 × 22 in
71.1 × 61 × 55.9 cm
The love affair between U.S. artist Betty Gold and the city of Palma de Mallorca in Baleares, Spain, unfolds lyrically in a new series of seven painted steel sculptures.
The Mallorca sculptures — each casting curious shadows from their angular folds — exude a timely optimism, a message cast in geometry that seems to say that if you take time to study a situation, or an object, you will likely find new perspectives, dynamic ideas, and more thoughtful solutions.
“When I found geometry, it’s like when you find your essence,” says Gold, who lives part time in Mallorca and Venice, California. “Working in a geometric form takes tremendous organization. This is how I live and that’s how I express myself through my art.”
Gold first visited Mallorca in 1999 to participate in a symposium; she also installed a sculpture from her Tirón series there. Commissions followed, and she fell in love with the town and its people. She finished the Tirón series there in 2002, purchased an atelier in 2004, and was feted in 2005 with a 35-year retrospective exhibition at the Casal Solleric Museum in Palma de Mallorca. (Incidentally, the U.S. Embassy in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava commissioned another large piece from the series, Tiron IV, for the garden of the presidential palace.) Meanwhile, Gold had begun working on the Mallorca (M.A.) series.
Gold’s sculptures continue to break the physical boundaries of geometry, as well as encompass a minimalist sensibility akin to Ellsworth Kelly and the playfulness of Joan Miro. Yet, she emerged a bona fide pioneer as a sculptor of Cor-Ten steel and, in a male-dominated field, produced a gutsy body of work that spans nearly four decades.
After Gold installed a new, large-scale piece at last year’s Vancouver Sculpture Biennale in British Columbia, Canada, she put the final shine on the seven M.A. maquettes. The large-scale M.A. IV (2005) belongs to the permanent collection at Palm Springs Art Museum.
Her next series, Sant Elias IX, refers to the street where she lives in Mallorca, and the pieces are identifiable by their cathedral- or castle-like pinnacles.
As usual, the simplicity and sophistication of the geometry belie the dynamic and compelling nature of Gold’s work — thoughtful and jutting with endless possibilities.
- Steven Biller
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Installation for the VancouverInternational Sculpture Biennale
Tuesday, January 17th, 2006, Vancouver, BC at 10:00am – The Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale is pleased to announce its 18th sculpture installation. American Artist, Betty Gold’s 11’ sculpture titled, Santa Monica III-B, will be installed at the circular pathway at the Georgia Street entrance to Stanley Park.
Having just celebrated a major retrospective of her work at the Casal Solleric de Palma, Mallorca, Spain, Betty Gold, a former Miss Texas, at 70 years of age continues to turn eyes. The major part of Betty Gold’s career has been based on a geometric concept, and she continues to find new ways in which to express its truth and universality. Betty Gold’s sculptures shine in the white, red, yellow and blue glossy enamel that compliments the graceful simplicity of her work – two-dimensional sheets of steel reassembled into a three-dimensional form.
Her work has often been described as “origami” in steel. Her works are in private and public collections in the United States and Europe, and her large outdoor sculptures are in permanent installations in Spain, Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Ireland, South Korea, Mexico and the United States.
Contact: Linda Evans at info@vancouverbiennale.com
Tel: +1 604 682-1289
Web: www.vancouverbiennale.com
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Betty Gold: Living Geometry
Retrospective: A Busy Year for Artist Betty Gold
Five events in four countries, culminating in a retrospective in Spain, highlight the career of the artist who works in both California and Mallorca.
The year 2005 is proving to be an especially active one for artist Betty Gold, who maintains studios in Venice, California, and Palma de Mallorca, Spain. A total of five exhibitions are either ongoing or in the planning stage.
The largest of the projects will open in late September at the Casal Solleric Museum in Palma. Titled "Betty Gold—35 Years of Sculpture" the retrospective will include originals of her work dating from 1970. It will fill ten rooms of the historic castle that is now one of the most important centers of contemporary art in the world. The exhibition will continue through November.
Two other international shows on Ms. Gold’s calendar are the U.S. Embassy Invitational in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico and the Biennale in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The former, "Hermandades Escultorica—Mexico-EUA" celebrates the cultural ties between Mexico and the U.S. while the latter is the fourth invitational Biennale "Sculpture Project" sponsored by the Canadian government. The Mexican event opened in March while the exhibition in Canada opens in September.
Two American exhibitions round out her busy schedule. The first will be at the University of California Art Museum in Santa Barbara in July and August. Second is the solo show at The Buschlenmowatt Gallery in Palm Desert, California from November through January, 2006. "Betty Gold Holistic Abstractions" in Santa Barbara will feature silk screens and sculptures. The Palm Desert event will be a titled "Betty Gold Sculpture."
Betty Gold, a professional sculptor has works in more than 100 permanent installations and private collections throughout the world. All of her outdoor pieces are constructed from welded steel. Some are painted with glossy enamel and others are left in their raw steel state to rust to a velvety patina. Indoor pieces are created from bronze and wood as well as the welded steel.
Ms. Gold’s prolific creative efforts include painting, drawing, silk screening, tapestry, and jewelry design, but sculpture remains her primary interest. She began her work in Texas and Colorado in the 1960s, relocating to Southern California in 1977. She started to work part-time in Mallorca, Spain in 1999.
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One-Woman Industrial Age
By Ariel Swartley, Special to The Times
Museums around the world have been home to Betty Gold's steel forms. The geometric pieces are turning up in stylish gardens at houses around Los Angeles.
"I love yellow," sculptor Betty Gold says, and no one entering her Venice kitchen would doubt it. The painted cupboards are a brilliant shade, midway between egg yolk and ballpark mustard — the better perhaps to show off her collection of Spanish and Mexican plates. Born in Texas, Gold is a sun lover, but it's neither home furnishings nor the weather that has elicited her comment. It's a photograph of one of her giant geometric sculptures, works that are in permanent collections of museums as far-flung as Madrid and Seoul.
The sculpture's appearance is deceptive. Although 10 feet tall and constructed from cold rolled steel, its yellow triangles suggest paper creased a moment ago, then halted in the act of unfolding. Indeed, "Sóller II" — named for a town on the Spanish isle of Mallorca, where Gold spends part of each year — almost seems to float among the cream-colored buildings of Pepperdine University's Malibu campus. Its sunny color is brilliant against the greenery and at odds with the piece's monumental size.
Gold's appearance is deceptive as well. It's hard to believe that this willowy, black-haired woman talking so vivaciously about welding turned 70 in February. Her works may be abstract, but making them is a physical business. She still drives a truck and wrangles steel plates onto her studio loading dock. Neighbors offer to help, but "they wouldn't be my neighbors very long" if she called them every time something needed moving. "I've been whacked by my own sculptures," she says with a laugh, holding out a dinged forearm.
In Europe, where Gold's work probably is better known than at home, she is associated with a long-standing movement, named MADI, of artists who deal in bright geometric forms. In the last decade Gold has taken part in major MADI exhibitions in Madrid's Reina Sofía national art museum and in Bratislava, Slovakia, where one of her 10-foot sculptures stands in the garden of the presidential palace. The pieces crowding her studio — many destined for a retrospective of her work at the Esbaluard museum on Mallorca next year — come in primary colors and a variety of unpainted surface treatments. That mottled woodland brown, which looks like a rock after lichen has been scraped away? It comes from dousing the steel with vinegar and letting it sit until the desired patina of rust has formed.
When she uses specially formulated Cor-Ten steel, the surface weathers naturally to an ever-earthier chocolate. (Examples include the 10-foot "Sóller I" at the South Coast Botanic Garden on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and the 20-foot "Holistic V" by the Harbor Freeway's 9th Street offramp in downtown L.A.) Still, she muses in a Texas accent that's strong despite nearly 30 years in California, "nobody wanted any yellow ones for a long time." That trend seems to be reversing in Los Angeles home gardens. Perhaps it's because yellow works so well with the year-round foliage — and the turquoise swimming pools.
In Beverly Hills, the bright yellow piece that Abner and Roz Goldstine commissioned — all fluid rectangles — stands at the head of a blue-bottomed lap pool, where its reflection appears, more fluid still, in shades of aqua and chartreuse, depending on the time of day. Like so much of Gold's recent work, it's at once purely abstract and then not. Faced with its lifelike motion, a viewer can begin to imagine a life-like creature.
Not all lots are large enough to showcase a 7-foot work and still have room for a perennial or two. But, Gold explains, a monumental piece is only one possible result of a process that begins with lots of folded paper and evolves through 12-inch models constructed from white cardboard and glue. When she is satisfied with a design, she and factory workers in Gardena cut, grind and weld the steel. These maquettes stand two to three feet high, the size Gold generally exhibits in museums and galleries. Larger versions, which sell for upward of $100,000, are made to order.
Varda Ullman and Robert Novick of West L.A. enjoy one of Gold's maquettes from their kitchen window. Their garage takes up one corner of a modest yard, but there's enough room for the small work to serve as a focal point, calm and engaging. The bamboo-shaded retreat, created by L.A. garden designer Katherine Glascock, grew outward, Ullman says, from a kitchen remodel. Gold, a longtime friend of Ullman's, chose soft yellow for cabinets that top the cobalt counter tile. That scheme continues into the backyard, where her triangular yellow sculpture stands at the juncture of a small stand of bearded iris and a patio of broken concrete interplanted with violets.
Wil Kohl, director of the Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts at the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, where Gold had an exhibition last spring, notes that it's unusual to find a woman doing sculptures like Gold's.
"She deals with a major material of the industrial age," he says, "and does it with great dexterity and power."
Glascock, who has designed three gardens containing yellow pieces by Gold, finds the work "remarkable for its absolute simplicity and also its sophistication." The sculptures change hourly as their angles cast a series of sharp shadows. Yet they also stop time, offering a freeze-frame of a flower opening or a bird in flight. For Gold, geometry becomes a kind of alchemy. Straight lines become a curve.
The artist's own garden is a gravel rooftop off a second-floor living room. There are no flowers, not even cactus. Instead the space is planted with some of her earliest terra cotta pieces. Many are figurative; the tallest is the torso of a buxom woman.
Abstract art, especially sculpture, was a largely male arena when Gold was growing up. How did a woman coming of age in the 1950s, a beauty pageant winner who majored in early childhood education, make the leap to apprenticing with Dallas sculptor Octavio Medellin? It wasn't a straight shot.
She married, adopted a daughter and divorced. She met her second husband, a dress manufacturer, while modeling for his line. Their marriage allowed her to go back to school and take courses in art history, painting and sculpture. By the end of the 1960s the cultural climate had become more encouraging to female artists. Gold shared a studio with five other women, and her paintings and a few small sculptures attracted enough attention to win her first show at 35. She began apprenticing with Medellin shortly thereafter.
"It seems like sculpture came so easy to me," she says, sounding as mystified as any master gardener trying to explain a green thumb. "Once I started working with him [Medellin], I remember everybody had to make an almost life-size body piece — terra cotta, hollow on the inside. In the kiln everybody's fell over and broke open except mine. So when we opened the oven, there were about 15 of us standing there, and there stood my sculpture — you know, boobs and bottom," she says, pointing toward the emphatically female torso.
Gold moved to Los Angeles in 1977, on the heels of the manufacture of her first monumental sculpture. She remembers driving to the factory to see it and being "bowled over."
"It was 12 feet tall, but to me it looked 80," she says. "Twelve feet. That's not really very big anymore." The intricate seven-ton fountain, "Redwood Moonrise," that she made for the Ronald Reagan State Office Building in downtown L.A. stands 2 1/2 times as high.
Gold settles back on the sofa. The abstract rug at her feet is one she designed, and photographs on walls are some she has taken on her travels.
"The only sad thing," she says, gesturing toward the TV where a DVD presentation of her work has just finished playing. "I don't have the energy to go back and do all this again." She does have sculptures on her loading dock ready to be picked up for a show in Canada, the Mallorca retrospective to prepare and — when she can find the peace and quiet — more paper to fold.
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Olé
Betty Gold’s Mallorca-inspired sculpture raises the profile of College Of the Desert’s campus gallery.
By Steven Biller
Tiron IV, 2013
Painted corten steel
144 x 52 x 60 in. (366 x 183 x 152 cm)
Bright red and elegantly angular, Tiron VII — a striking sculpture of cut, welded, ground, and painted steel — finally gives the year-old Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts the iconic focal point it needed.
The center, located at College of the Desert, unveiled the sculpture by Venice-based artist Betty Gold at the November reception for her solo show, "Maquettes Made in Mallorca." Thirteen maquettes — models for larger sculptures — filled two galleries for the month-long show, with the full-sized Tiron VII (72"x48"x48") on permanent display at the center’s courtyard entrance, courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. David Chatkin, patrons of the artist who live in Pittsburgh, Pa.
"It is our signature piece and the beginning of our sculpture garden," says gallery director David Einstein. "It creates an opportunity for students and the community to view and perceive the world through the creative process of three-dimensional sculpture."
The gift is something of a coup for the center. Prior to the artist’s Palm Desert debut, the U.S. Embassy in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava commissioned Gold to create a large piece (Tiron IV) for the garden of the Presidential palace.
Tiron VII is the last in a series of sculptures that began in 1999 with a monumental installation for the city of Palma de Mallorca in Baleares, Spain. "I was developing pieces that looked like they move with the cape of a bullfighter," Gold says, noting that tiron is Spanish for "to throw." "It’s very much geometric how the bullfighter’s cape folds back."
Gold, 68, is currently working on a 15-foot commissioned sculpture, Homage to Fray Junipero Serra, which will be installed this year outside the new Es Balurad Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Palma. Serra, a Franciscan Friar born in Mallorca in 1713, came to California and "was the driving force behind the building of 21 missions from Sonoma to San Diego that stand to this day," says Gold, an Austin, Texas, native who speaks fluent Spanish and has returned to Mallorca six times since 1999.
The COD community need not be versed in fine art to embrace Tiron VII. Indeed, Einstein hopes it will promote visual and aesthetic literacy — an appreciation for form and process. Ultimately, the installation helps the center fulfill its primary role: to educate and create discourse about the sculpture’s bright cultural and historical significance.
Gold has created work for more than 100 permanent installations and private collections worldwide — including Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, Fredrick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine University, Duke University Medical Center, California State University in Fullerton, Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Ronald Regan California State Building, Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Albuquerque Art Museum. She also has permanent installations in Japan, Ireland, and South Korea.
Palm Springs Desert Museum, which has two of Gold’s sculptures, offered the exhibition of maquettes to the college to stretch its reach in the community and to place world-class art where it can educate, enlighten, and inspire.
Tiron VII offers a different experience from every angle at which it is viewed. "It casts different shadows and looks different from every angle," Gold says. "[Her sculptures] are living things for me — that’s how people are to me."
Once she has a design in mind, Gold creates six maquettes but only one large sculpture, which appeals to Einstein’s sensibilities: "Betty isn’t into reproducing [for commercial gain]; she’s into creating what she sees in nature. I admire her integrity."
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Steven Biller is editor-in-chief and art writer for Palm Springs Life magazine.
(This article was taken with permission, in whole, but reformatted, from PalmSpringsLife.com)
Sculpting a New Look
By Carrie Yamato (News Staff Writer)
Rancho Palos Verdes residents John and Marilyn Long often boast about the open space and beautiful parks on the Peninsula. But on a recent trip to Europe, they realized their hometown was missing something.
"We went to London and in all the gardens they would have these beautiful sculptures," said Marilyn. "My husband and I really love art and we said to each other, 'We need to have sculpture art in [Palos Verdes]. How can we bring this to the Peninsula?'"
Marilyn didn't have to wait long for her answer. When she returned home, she contacted her friend Bob Yassin, who is the director of the Palos Verdes Art Center, and he referred her to Venice, Calif., sculptor Betty Gold.
A professional sculptor for more than 25 years, Gold's works are in more than 100 public and private collections and museums throughout the world. She is currently working on a 15-foot-tall steel structure that will be situated outside the Es Baluard Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art on Spain's Mallorca Island.
"I loved her work immediately," said Marilyn of Gold. "We worked closely together, but I didn't give her any guidelines about what to sculpt [for the Botanic Garden]. I said, 'Betty, this is your project.' And she took off. She was excited after she came to the site."
On Solid Ground
While Gold completed the sculpture in a couple of months, it took the South Coast Botanic Garden twice that amount of time to get the project approved.
First, they needed approval from the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. Then they had to make sure the weight of the almost 1,300-pound sculpture would not create any geological problems.
"The head of the Parks and Recreation Department was very receptive and that helped us," said Norma Catafio, executive director of the South Coast Botanical Garden Foundation. "But, because we're on a landfill, we had to get an engineer to check the soil compact. The sculpture had to be put on a solid soil composition beyond the norm. We didn't want to put in anywhere where it would be hazardous."
Catafio said, however, that the time that went into the project was well-spent and that she is thankful to the Long Foundation for their gift.
"We always wanted to bring art to the garden, but the county wasn't sure they wanted us to do that," said Catafio. "Then the Long family came in and wanted to work with us."
The Long Foundation was set up by the Long family to provide funds for education, culture and the environment. "We look for causes that will make a difference in our community," said Marilyn. "We're also appreciators of art, and that's how we got involved with this."
"We're thrilled," said Catafio. "Now we have the combination of art and horticulture to enhance the experience for the visitors. It's fabulous."
Standing 10 feet and weighing more than a ton, the sculpture, made of interlocking triangular shapes of Corten steel, is situated near the front entrance. Titled, "Soller I," it is named after the Spanish city where Gold conceived of the idea.
"Sculpture makes an eloquent statement about the richness that can be achieved when there is a merger of art and the space in which it dwells," said Marilyn. "South Coast Botanic Garden is a real treasure -- 87 acres of beautifully landscaped plants, trees and flowers. This art piece creates an environment that enriches those who visit this vast Garden of Eden."
The South Coast Botanic Garden is located at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd. It is open from Monday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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(This article was taken, in whole, but reformatted, from the Palos Verdes Peninsula News online newsletter. To see the original you must search the archives.)
Betty Gold Sculpture is First for South Coast Botanic Garden
A 10 ft. geometric sculpture of Corten steel will be installed on July 30th at the South Coast Botanic Garden, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif. The sculpture, the first such art in the garden, is a gift from a local donor, and is by Betty Gold of Venice, Calif. M&S Metals of Gardena, Calif. is the fabricator.
Since the 1960s the South Coast Botanic Garden has transformed a landfill into an 87-acre Eden of beautifully landscaped plants and trees. Some of the more diverse plants include flowering fruit trees and redwoods. Among several gardens is an English Rose Garden. A lake and streambed attract ducks, geese, coots, and blue heron. The Garden is open daily, except on Christmas, from 9:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m., for shuttle and walking tours, special events, film locations, and picnics.
Other recent and current projects by Ms. Gold include a monumental piece at Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif., installed this spring, a solo show in Slovakia in September sponsored by the U.S. Embassy, an exhibition at the College of the Desert later this fall in Palm Desert, Calif., and a signature work in 2004 at the new Es Balurad Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Mallorca, Spain.
Ms. Gold’s prolific creative efforts include painting, drawing, silk screening, tapestry, and jewelry design, but sculpture remains her primary interest. She began her work in Texas in the 1960s, coming to Southern California in 1977. She opened her studio in Venice, Calif. in 1985.
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California Sculptor Chosen to Honor HistoricMission Builder in his Spanish Birthplace
Friar Junípero Serra, 2003
36 x 17 x 13 inches
Steel Sculpture
Betty Gold, Venice, Calif. artist, has been commissioned to construct a 15 ft abstract sculpture of Corten steel titled “Homage to Fray Junipero Serra." The sculpture will be situated outside Es Balurad Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Palma, on the Island of Mallorca, Spain, that will be completed in 2004.
Junipero Serra, a Franciscan Friar, was born in Mallorca in 1713. He eventually came to California and was the driving force behind the building of 21 missions from Sonoma to San Diego that stand to this day. The renowned collection of Pedro Serra, the major publisher and broadcaster in the Balearic Islands, will be the hallmark of the museum.
Ms. Gold, who speaks fluent Spanish, has been a regular visitor to the island and has had previous commissions there. Maquettes of her work created in Mallorca will be exhibited at the Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts, College of the Desert, Palm Desert, Calif., in late fall. Earlier this year Ms. Gold completed another signature piece situated between the library and theater on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.
Betty Gold, a professional sculptor for more than a quarter century, has works in more than 100 permanent installations and private collections throughout the world. All of her outdoor pieces are constructed from welded steel, and are painted with glossy enamel or left in their raw steel state to rust to a velvety patina. Her indoor pieces are created from bronze, welded steel or wood, and are painted or left in their natural state.
Ms. Gold’s prolific creative efforts include painting, drawing, silk screening, tapestry, and jewelry design, but sculpture remains her primary interest. She began her work in Texas in the 1960s, coming to Southern California in 1977. She opened her studio in Venice, Calif. in 1985.
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Southern California Sculptor ChosenTo Honor Historic Mission Builder
By Larisa Pilinsky
SPECIAL TO SENIOR LIFE
Betty Gold in her studio. Photo: Larisa Lapinksy
Betty Gold of Venice has been commissioned to construct a 15-foot abstract steel sculpture in homage to the California mission builder, Fray Junipero Serra. The sculpture will be situated outside the Es Baluard Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Palma on the Island of Mallorca, where Serra was born in 1713, scheduled for completion in 2004.
A professional sculptor for more than a quarter century, Betty has works in many museums and more than 100 permanent installations and private collections throughout the world. Her outdoor pieces are constructed from welded steel, and painted with glossy enamel or left raw to rust to a velvety patina. She began her work in Texas in the 1960s, coming to Southern California in 1977. She opened her studio in Venice in 1985.
From her violinist father, Betty inherited a love of music and the mathematical structure behind music’s magic. From her mother, who owned a Montessori school for more than 30 years, Betty discovered the world of physical objects.
For years Betty built constructions alone, cutting, welding and grinding the heavy metal pieces. “Metal pieces about one to three feet tall were as big as I could afford to cut without a laser. My daughter, girlfriends and even the garbage man helped me move the pieces around.” It took her years to receive a special show in Aspen, Colorado. Several weeks passed without any results when she received an offer that would change her life.
“We would like you to build something really big,” said the collector Sidney Feldman. “We have a steel factory in California and have helped other artists before. Just make something beautiful about twelve feet tall.” Meanwhile, she was invited to have her first museum show in Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. Shortly after, she received another call from Sidney Feldman. “The Director of the Oakland Museum wants to have your sculpture in their permanent collection. But there is a catch. You’ll have to move to California.”
It was a difficult decision. “I lived in a beautiful place in the mountains. But I knew that my future had to be in a big city close to steel factories.” In 1977 Betty Gold moved to Los Angeles, creating new sculptures, giving lectures, and finding new friends. People responded to the precise power of her metal constructions.
“If someone buys it or just likes it and it goes to a home, gallery or museum, I consider myself lucky and excited as though it’s my first sold piece. If not … I wait. The art world is unpredictable: One day you have nothing and wonder if anybody is ever going to call you again. The next day you get a big commission to put your sculpture in front of a museum. And then years go by again and nobody remembers about you.”
Betty has been a regular visitor to Mallorca and has had previous commissions there. Maquettes of her work will be exhibited at the Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts, College of the Desert, Palm Desert, in late fall. Earlier this year Betty completed a piece which can be seen between the library and the theater on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu. On July 30, a 10- foot geometric, steel sculpture will be installed at the South Coast Botanic Garden, Palos Verdes. You can learn more about her life and work at www.bettygold.com.
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Un homenaje a Fra Juníper Serra
Betty Gold: «Mi pensamiento es geométrico y esto se aprecia en mis obras»
La escultora prepara una pieza en homenaje a Fra Juníper Serra para Palma
IOLANDA PERICÀS
La artista norteamericana Betty Gold (Austin, Texas, 1935) descansa estos días en el Port de Sóller, donde pasa temporadas. De hecho, su última serie de esculturas monumentales lleva por título «Sóller», «porque Port de Sóller era muy largo», en honor al lugar donde la artista se inspira. Aprovechando su estancia en la Isla, Gold ha visitado la Cerrajería Artística Seguí, donde piensa trabajar en una escultura para Palma. -Explíquenos la pieza en la que está trabajando.-Es una escultura de gran tamaño, de más de cuatro metros de alto, que estará hecha de acero cortén, como la mayoría de mis obras exteriores. Será como una especie de gran hoja de papel doblada y recortada de forma muy concreta, que en este caso dejaré sin pintar, al natural, para que la pieza vaya cambiando con el tiempo y sus efectos. La obra será un homenaje a Fra Juníper Serra, porque vivo en California y la pieza es para Mallorca. Una relación obvia.
-Usted siempre trabaja con las formas geométricas, ¿por qué?-Es mi manera de pensar que se refleja en mis creaciones. Mi pensamiento, en cierta manea, es geométrico y esto se pone de manifiesto en mis obras. Además, siento un gran interés por la arquitectura, que también se basa en la geometría de las formas. Cuando he de trabajar una escultura de gran formato no me quiero perder ni un sólo detalle, porque los ángulos y los cortes han de ser perfectos. En mis piezas lo importante es la suma de todos los elementos que la conforman, como en las personas es importante la suma de cuerpo y pensamiento.
-¿Cuál es el proceso que sigue a la hora de crear una escultura de grandes dimensiones?-Todas mis obras, pequeñas o grandes, empiezan con una hoja de papel a la que voy dando forma. Después dibujo la pieza y hago una maqueta. Antes, cuando empecé con la escultura, era yo la que realizaba todo el proceso, desde la idea a la materialización. Ahora tengo asistentes que me ayudan, sobre todo en las piezas grandes, que a menudo las tengo que hacer fuera del estudio por una cuestión de tamaño.
-Usted ya tiene una escultura en Palma. -Si, fue con motivo de la Universiada. Aquel mismo año me enamoré de Mallorca. Desde entonces vengo a menudo y aquí trabajo tranquila, dedicándome sólo a crear.
-¿Qué piensa del futuro Museu del Baluard? -Creo que es una idea magnífica y necesaria para un lugar como Mallorca. El edificio es precioso y en él se combina lo antiguo, es decir, la propia construcción, con el arte contemporáneo. En este sentido es muy destacable la colección de Pere A. Serra, presidente del Grup Serra. No conozco ninguna otra persona con más pasión por el arte y su determinación ha hecho posible que el museo fuera una realidad. Será muy importante para la ciudad.
-¿Cómo ve el panorama artístico actual? - Creo que en España hay mucho y muy buen arte. No hemos de olvidar que Miró, Picasso y Dalí son los tres artistas que han marcado el siglo veinte. Por lo que se refiere a artistas más contemporáneos me gusta mucho la obra de Pablo Serrano y también la de Chillida. Es una lástima que hombres como él no puedan vivir 300 años.
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Soller II
Pepperdine University
Soller II, ca. 2010
Powder coated steel sculpture
24 × 13 × 9 in
61 × 33 × 22.9 cm
The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art announces the installation of a new outdoor sculpture by Betty Gold. Soller II to be dedicated at Pepperdine University on March 16
Venice, California, artist Betty Gold has created a new outdoor sculpture specifically for Pepperdine University. It will be installed on Wednesday, February 26, 2003, in the Ahmanson Fine Arts Center Palm Court adjacent to the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, and dedicated on Sunday, March 16, at 2:00 P.M.
The abstract steel sculpture is titled Soller II and named for its place of conception in Soller, Mallorca, Spain. Consisting of interlocking triangular shapes, it rises to an inspiring 10 feet tall. It is painted bright yellow, constructed of plate steel, and weighs 1200 pounds.
Dr. Michael Zakian, director of the Weisman Museum, helped to select the work. He said, "This sculpture is a great addition to the campus. The lines of Soller II mirror the angles of Pepperdine's architecture perfectly. Since it is yellow, the color augments the light cream of the surrounding buildings. It will create a colorful focal point for the Weisman Museum, Smothers Theatre, and Cultural Arts Center at Pepperdine University."
Betty Gold has been a professional sculptor for more than 30 years. She was born in Austin, Texas, and studied at the University of Texas. She had her first art exhibition in 1971. In 1977 she moved to California and established her current studio in Venice in 1985. Today she is regarded as an important part of the Los Angeles contemporary art scene.
Gold has examples of outdoor sculpture permanently installed at Baylor University, Duke University, Ronald Regan California State Building, and many other institutions. Museums that own examples of her art include the Palm Springs Desert Museum, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Albuquerque Art Museum, and Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. In 2002 she created a major sculpture commissioned for the United States Embassy in Slovakia. Although she is known primarily as a sculptor, she works in many media, including painting, drawing, silkscreen, tapestry, and jewelry design.
Soller II is being donated to Pepperdine by Mr. and Mrs. David Chatkin of Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania. The sculpture was fabricated by the artist at M & S Metals in Gardena.
For more information on the sculpture's dedication, interested persons are asked to call Dr. Zakian at (310) 506-7257.
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Tíron IV
Tiron IV (Red), 2008. Heather James Gallery. 45188 Portola Ave., Palm Desert
Slovakian Presidential Garden receives gift from U.S. Embassy by prominent American Sculptor
The United States Embassy in Bratislava has commissioned Betty Gold to place a large permanent sculpture in the garden of the Presidential palace. Ms. Gold was in Slovakia earlier this year as one of the invited artists at an exhibition focusing on the MADI style of nonfigurative works.
The sculpture will be installed after a late June art festival in the Slovakian capitol. Slovakia came into being following the "velvet revolution" separation from the former Czechoslovakia (now known as the Czech Republic) in 1993.
Other recent major work by Ms. Gold includes a February installation of an 11x7x5 foot piece at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
Betty Gold, a professional sculptor for more than a quarter century, has works in more than 100 permanent installations and private collections throughout the world. All of her outdoor pieces are constructed from welded steel, and are painted with glossy enamel or left in their raw steel state to rust to a velvety patina. Her indoor pieces are created from bronze, welded steel or wood, and are painted or left in their natural state.
Ms. Gold's prolific creative efforts include painting, drawing, silk screening, tapestry, and jewelry design, but sculpture remains her primary interest. She began her work in Texas in the 1970s, coming to Southern California in 1980. Her studio in Venice, California, was established in 1985.
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