Catalog #8
Buky Schwartz
videoconstructions
1978, Projected Video Art
Estimated Value: 1000 USD
About the Artist:
Born in Jerusalem and originally trained as a sculptor in Israel, Schwartz moved to London in 1959, where he played an important role in the hotbed of new sculptural directions at St. Martin's School of Art during the 1960s. in 1971 Schwartz moved to New York, where he continues to reside part of each year. During the 1960s and 1970s Schwartz's inventive use of sculptural materials, such as mirrors and wooden timbers, involved an interplay between illusory appearances and the actual, physical presence, weight, and structure of his work. This playful interaction between sculptural appearance and physical reality quickly became a central aspect in much of his video installation work as he added that modern medium to his vocabulary in the late 1970s. Schwartz's videoconstructions have been essentially of two types: objects, sculptural presences that incorporate video monitors and around which the viewer moves; and environments,which are akin to architectural interiors in that the viewer is surrounded by forms and colors, including closed-circuit video imagery. Schwartz's creative use of the electronic medium of video, and the complex and emphatic manner in which he integrates the viewer into his video work, are both related to central aspects of twentieth-century art. Thus Schwartz's work is of interest not simply for itself, but for its place in modern art as well. -Bill Judson, Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh
About the Artist:
Born in Jerusalem and originally trained as a sculptor in Israel, Schwartz moved to London in 1959, where he played an important role in the hotbed of new sculptural directions at St. Martin's School of Art during the 1960s. in 1971 Schwartz moved to New York, where he continues to reside part of each year. During the 1960s and 1970s Schwartz's inventive use of sculptural materials, such as mirrors and wooden timbers, involved an interplay between illusory appearances and the actual, physical presence, weight, and structure of his work. This playful interaction between sculptural appearance and physical reality quickly became a central aspect in much of his video installation work as he added that modern medium to his vocabulary in the late 1970s. Schwartz's videoconstructions have been essentially of two types: objects, sculptural presences that incorporate video monitors and around which the viewer moves; and environments,which are akin to architectural interiors in that the viewer is surrounded by forms and colors, including closed-circuit video imagery. Schwartz's creative use of the electronic medium of video, and the complex and emphatic manner in which he integrates the viewer into his video work, are both related to central aspects of twentieth-century art. Thus Schwartz's work is of interest not simply for itself, but for its place in modern art as well. -Bill Judson, Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh
