Neri Near and Far

My Kind of Pokémon Go – Manuel Neri Figurative Sculpture

I’ve have been a docent at Laumeier Sculpture Park for a few years now. The volunteer job involves introducing visitors to the permanent collection and various more temporary installations. It is a natural thing to do for lifelong art junkie like me. One point I frequently like to suggest to people I meet on tours at Laumeier is to study art they admire, look the artist up online, read about their work and become familiar. If you are fortunate enough to travel and make it your business to seek out art you will surely encounter them again.

Here’s an example of what I mean. I was in Tampa visiting my new grandson. My daughter, son-in-law and barely 3-week old newborn grandson found ourselves in the award winning  architectural edifice known as the Rivergate Tower. On the ground floor stood proudly an imposing figurative sculpture called Espana by Manuel Neri. Neri also created a sculpture, of which I have become fond. Aurelia Roma is on display seasonally at Laumeier Sculpture Park facing south from the estate house. 

Manuel Neri (b. 1930) is an American artist best known for his uniquely painterly figurative sculpture. A member of the “second generation” of Bay Area Figurative Movement, Neri was a prominent figure in the San Francisco art scene. He went on to marry another member of the second generation of the Bay Area Figurative Movement, the painter Joan Brown. Neri was honored by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1984, and was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the International Sculpture Center in 2006. His work is included in numerous public collections, such as the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Seattle Art Museum.(Source: artnet)

Photos: Espana by Manuel Neri at Riverwalk Tower in Tampa and Aurelia Roma by Manuel Neri at Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis in 2016.