DENVER, CO.- Goodwin Fine Art announces a solo exhibition of new work by Denver sculptor Patrick Marold. This marks the first solo show in Denver since 2008 and will debut a group of large-scale pieces. Serrated Crest, the featured sculpture on the cover of the invitation, is composed of rusted steel layers and stands seven feet tall. It projects a formidable presence through sheer physicality with the elegance of calibrated form. When viewed from the front the linear shape appears to vanish with a foreshortened perspective. As you walk around the piece the gentle arc of the bent steel is realized as it resolves its curve towards the back. Another of the larger scaled works, Prominence, is fashioned out of mirror stainless steel tubing. Its upward counter-posture leans towards the gallery skylights reflecting arcing pools of light along the gallery walls and floor.
Smaller more intimate sculptures offer a dynamic counterpoint to the overall installation. The sculpture Key measures only 5 inches in height and 8 inches in length, constructed of welded steel segments. While its small dimension may belie the sculptures capacity for monumentality, it implies a larger scale in an outdoor plaza setting. As the artist states, “it is from the smaller sculptures that I develop the concepts for the larger scaled projects.” The piece also acts as a reference and informs the two photographs of derelict culverts the artist came across and photographed in the Escalante desert. The photographs serve as contextual projections of Marold’s inspiration.
Graphite and charcoal drawings are also on view lending additional insight to the artist’s studio practice and process in preparation for the large-scale sculpture. They offer a strong backdrop to the 3 dimensional works, while some drawings possess a diaphanous almost ethereal quality, such as Stratus; others are direct and precise in their mark making.
Patrick earned his BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 1997. From the very beginning his practice has involved an intimate connection to the landscape and has incorporated the environmental traditions unique to post-minimalism. The recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in 2000 Marold traveled to Iceland where his first explorations with light and movement took hold.
The artist has been awarded numerous public art commissions including Avian Front the City of Denver commissioned sculpture that established the boundaries between the Zoo and City Park. Other recent commissions have included Virga, a sculpture that brought new life to a repurposed train bridge in lower downtown Denver. Through the inventive use of reflective material the sculpture records the chromatic shifts in daylight. Marold’s most recent public art award is part of the South Terminal Redevelopment Project at DIA, where he will create an expansive work in the exterior bowl landform that will be seen from multiple vantage points including the future terminus of the airport train.
