Lucky for those of you who plan to attend the Gallery of Contemporary Art's Brilliant Benefit on Saturday, August 10, local artist Sean O'Meallie has "Got A Handle On It: Circus", one of his deceptively whimsical sculptures, available for auction. You know how these things go: A piece worth $3-$4K could be yours for as little as... well, who knows? But it'll likely be quite a deal, particularly when you watch this slide show that shows that the art of making things look easy is indeed still difficult.
O'Meallie writes of the sculpture:
This new artwork was created for the live auction at GOCA's Brilliant Party which will take place on August 10, 2013 at the university. 100% of the moneys raised from the sale will be used directly in GOCA's art programming for their campus and downtown galleries. There is no minimum or reserve price. I was not asked to donate. I volunteered this. I serve on their advisory board and I'm interested in supporting the wonderful and interesting cultural programming Daisy McConnell and her GoCA staff provide the region. This piece would retail in a gallery for $3000-$4000.
The idea for this piece grew out of my experience as a toy inventor which I did full time from 1987-1997. Most toys are balls, dolls, or vehicles which are variously overlaid with an innovative feature or theme. Although the toy business is driven largely by culture, fashion and money, and only partially by kids, what interested me as an inventor was the challenge of communicating to a pre-linguistic child about a relatable object in the room. This a kind of combination vehicle in that respect, although I don't think you have to be told that.
This is the third version of this sculpture idea I've made in the last 18 years. The first is in a private collection in Los Angeles. The second was in a large and amazing private art collection which was entirely washed to sea by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
In this work the organic spiral form represents time and the attachments squeezed onto it are human devices of movement and control. It's colorful, because life feels like a circus lately.
Get your tickets to GOCA's Brilliant HERE.
