American Artist
Monumental and
Outdoor Sculpture
BETTY GOLD, a professional sculptor for more than 24 years, has worked in diverse media to create pieces that reflect her artistic focus on intensifying opposites. “I’ve always been interested in opposite ends of the spectrum, such as the contrast of my rugged, oversized, sandblasted outdoor steel sculptures with my indoor, delicate gold-leaf icon visuals.” Her works appear in more than 50 permanent installations and private collections throughout the world.
Although Gold’s prolific creative efforts include painting, drawing, silk screening, tapestry and jewelry design and photography, sculpture remains her primary interest. She expresses herself artistically both in an abstract style and in non-objective geometric patterns.
All of her outdoor pieces are constructed from welded steel and are either 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, decorated or left in their natural state.
Betty Gold has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas. This exposure to different cultures has profoundly influenced her work. The Asian influence is reflected by simple designs and use of gold leaf. Primitive cultures of Africa, Australia and the Americas are reflected in several series of sculptures, paintings and photographs. The influence of the Mediterranean countries is profoundly revealed in her new series of architectural paintings.
Her large outdoor sculptures are in the permanent collections of public institutions internationally, including the National Museum of Contemporary Art is Seoul, Korea; Purdue University, Indiana; and the Delaware Art Museum. In 1989 she completed a 23-foot sculpture, “Fountain Number One,” for the new Ronald Reagan California State Building, Los Angeles, California; “M.H. Triptych I” was installed in March 1990 at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton; and her 20-foot steel “Kaikoo V” will be installed in 1991 by the Palo Alto Arts Commission. In July 1990 she built and installed a large steel sculpture in Sayo, Japan. In November 1990 she was one of two sculptors from the U.S. to be invited to participate in the Encuentro Internacional de Escultura, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. In April 1991 she had her second solo exhibition in Japan, at the Beni Gallery, Kyoto.
Gold’s paintings and silk screens are housed in such collections as the RCA Building, Chicago; New York University; the Hawaii State Foundation of the Arts; the University of California; and Michigan State University. Recent solo exhibitions have been at the Andrea Ross Gallery, Santa Monica; the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama; the Nishida Gallery, Nara, Japan; and Walker Hill Art Center, Seoul, Korea. She has been Visiting Artist and Artist in Residence at such institutions as Purdue University, the University of Texas and the Palm Springs Desert Museum.
The wide acceptance of Betty Gold’s work internationally reflects the inherent vitality and drama of her sculpture.
VARDA ULLMAN
Internationally published
Writer and Photographer
