Artist:
William Wareham
Title:
Rigger
Year:
1981
Adress:
Administration Building
www.crala.org:
"Rigger," a large, painted metal abstract sculpture, sits in a plaza in front of the Harbor Administration Building. Relating to the site and building’s boxy composition, the sculpture’s form also resembles a ship at full sail.
www.williamwareham.com:
William Wareham: "On my studio wall is a small sign (the lettering disappearing from age) that says: "Do not be afraid!" Perhaps intended as a morale booster to those WWII sailors going off to war from this shipyard: it now acts as an aesthetic reminder to pursue the creative act with vigour. But what is that? Is it to take three-dimensional form to where it has not been before or mine the turf that others have excavated in the belief of finding new harmonies? Whichever path, to activate space with steel is a challenge. I try to resolve this with both knowledge and intuition asking myself constantly; "Is this solution too predictable?" I rework and change the forms to get a more dynamic relationship, interesting intervals, tension in the negative volumes or contrasting scale; all with the purpose of bringing a great sense of visual delight to our lives."
William Wareham creates series of works with a strong common thread. From his earliest years as a fine art student at UC Berkeley in the late sixties, where Wareham used military surplus material in his sculpture, his concern with the medium and the technique is apparent. Through that search, he achieves some of the most consistently accomplished compositions in contemporary sculpture.
www.skylinecollege.edu:
William Wareham has exhibited widely throughout California, as well as in Nevada, Hawaii, Illinois and New Jersey. Public pieces can be found at U.C. Berkeley, San Francisco State University, Sonoma State University, Los Medanos College in Antioch, and Chapman College in Los Angeles, to name just a few.
He enjoys using recycled steel as the primary source for his sculpture, and it is the "pre-used history that the material inherently holds", he says, that inspires him. "These worn-out metal things will continue to have a life by gathering, refocusing and rejoining into a collective other life".
In addition to his large scale public pieces, Wareham paints, draws, works in collage and assemblage, as well as designing and making functional yet sculpturally eclectic steel furniture pieces.
www.crala.org:
William Wareham began his higher education at the University of the Americas in Mexico City, Mexico; followed by a year in the Peace Corp in Cuzco, Peru; and then finished his studies receiving a BFA from Philadelphia College of Art and both his MA and MFA from the University of California, Berkeley. Wareham’s sculptures 'rework and change the [original] forms to get a more dynamic relationship, interesting intervals, tension in the negative volumes or contrasting scale; all with the purpose of bringing a great sense of visual delight to our lives.' The artist has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant and was named Djerassi Resident Artist by the Pritzker Foundation Endowed Fellowship. Wareham’s public artworks can be found at Chapman College, Los Angeles; Art Museum of Santa Cruz County; Norcal Sculpture Park, San Francisco; San Francisco State University; and Mare Island Shipyard Workers Tribute, Award Commission from Vallejo. Warhem lives and works in Montague, California.
"Rigger," a large, painted metal abstract sculpture, sits in a plaza in front of the Harbor Administration Building. Relating to the site and building’s boxy composition, the sculpture’s form also resembles a ship at full sail.
www.williamwareham.com:
William Wareham: "On my studio wall is a small sign (the lettering disappearing from age) that says: "Do not be afraid!" Perhaps intended as a morale booster to those WWII sailors going off to war from this shipyard: it now acts as an aesthetic reminder to pursue the creative act with vigour. But what is that? Is it to take three-dimensional form to where it has not been before or mine the turf that others have excavated in the belief of finding new harmonies? Whichever path, to activate space with steel is a challenge. I try to resolve this with both knowledge and intuition asking myself constantly; "Is this solution too predictable?" I rework and change the forms to get a more dynamic relationship, interesting intervals, tension in the negative volumes or contrasting scale; all with the purpose of bringing a great sense of visual delight to our lives."
William Wareham creates series of works with a strong common thread. From his earliest years as a fine art student at UC Berkeley in the late sixties, where Wareham used military surplus material in his sculpture, his concern with the medium and the technique is apparent. Through that search, he achieves some of the most consistently accomplished compositions in contemporary sculpture.
www.skylinecollege.edu:
William Wareham has exhibited widely throughout California, as well as in Nevada, Hawaii, Illinois and New Jersey. Public pieces can be found at U.C. Berkeley, San Francisco State University, Sonoma State University, Los Medanos College in Antioch, and Chapman College in Los Angeles, to name just a few.
He enjoys using recycled steel as the primary source for his sculpture, and it is the "pre-used history that the material inherently holds", he says, that inspires him. "These worn-out metal things will continue to have a life by gathering, refocusing and rejoining into a collective other life".
In addition to his large scale public pieces, Wareham paints, draws, works in collage and assemblage, as well as designing and making functional yet sculpturally eclectic steel furniture pieces.
www.crala.org:
William Wareham began his higher education at the University of the Americas in Mexico City, Mexico; followed by a year in the Peace Corp in Cuzco, Peru; and then finished his studies receiving a BFA from Philadelphia College of Art and both his MA and MFA from the University of California, Berkeley. Wareham’s sculptures 'rework and change the [original] forms to get a more dynamic relationship, interesting intervals, tension in the negative volumes or contrasting scale; all with the purpose of bringing a great sense of visual delight to our lives.' The artist has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant and was named Djerassi Resident Artist by the Pritzker Foundation Endowed Fellowship. Wareham’s public artworks can be found at Chapman College, Los Angeles; Art Museum of Santa Cruz County; Norcal Sculpture Park, San Francisco; San Francisco State University; and Mare Island Shipyard Workers Tribute, Award Commission from Vallejo. Warhem lives and works in Montague, California.