Smile!!!! Joseph Mannino

A Smile from Bayon: A tribute to Cambodian Artist.
The Smile Benches.
This month I would like to discuss a pair of sculptures this month. They are multipurpose, they are benches that are so amazing, as well as sculptural masterpieces. So many people comment on how stunning they are. I always believed they were called the Smile Benches, but after doing a bit of research and speaking with the artist I found out they are so much more than just benches. Their title is actually "A Smile from Bayon: A tribute to Cambodian Artists" They were made in honor of the cambodian artist that began making art again after the horrific wars their country went through. The artist is Joseph Mannino. Mr. Mannino was born is Chicago Illinois in 1950. He has many degrees including a B.A. from Knox College and an M.F.A from Southern Illinois U. Joseph has been in many solo shows and Art Galleries in the states Virginia, New York, California and Pittsburgh. As well as many groups shows everywhere from Texas to Washington D.C. mr. Mannino also has works in permanent collections all over the country. He does many lectures around the U.S. such as California College of Art and crafts, Ohio State, Sweet Briar Virginia. He is presently the Associate Head, and Associate Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon. Mannino has also been granted Art Residence at many school and galleries here in the states as well as Germany and Italy.  
Joseph Mannino states he is an object maker expressing his views on many things from politics and person experiences and reflects it in his works. He hopes each person that sees his works have an emotional as well as intellectual response to the pieces. The proportions of his pieces make people realize how small the are in scale of the piece as well as the world around them. Mannino believes his art is poignant reminder of the unnamed victims of our times. He encourages visitors to interact with his art, touch them sit on them enjoy them and connect with them physically.
Clay is one of his favorite mediums to use. He enjoys it, it is elemental and been used since the beginning of civilization. Joseph also enjoys using ceramic for the warmth and strength but still has the feeling of fragility.
I enjoy these benches personal they are a great addition to our park we have 2. We have one near our lake at the entrance of the park as well as one by our fountain lake accompanied by sets of roman columns. It is a very stunning landscape. The benches always bring a smile to my face regardless what type of mood I am in they just seem to have a soothing effect on me. I hope if you are in the area, you get a chance to visit the park and enjoy them for your self. As well as all the great pieces in our park.

November on the hill means HOLIDAY LIGHTS ON THE HILL!!!!

Holiday Lights on the Hill is the longest running event that we hold here at the park. It is a Drive through lighting display set up and ran by park employees and volunteers. Holiday Lights is now open for its 13 year. This year we added 100,000 lights this year to put our total well over 3 million. We have many scenes and characters that appear year after year. Our toy soldiers at the entrance and exit making sure you are safe. As well as our 9-ft tall teddy bear. We have an ice skating figures in the Pavilion. As well as a manger built from straw with the angel watching over the new family.
People from all over the area and beyond come to visit our 6-week long lighting festival. We are open everyday even Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have been working on the lights since the beginning of October they even bring in a 40-foot lift to get up in the treetops around the park. The park keeps 4 men on staff all winter long to keep the lights in working order. As well as 2 people here to make sure no one gets lost and flow stays going. We have a set path that the cars take. It is a great ride over a half hour long longer if you stop at all the cool scenes like most people do.

Our lights can be seen for miles across the Great Miami River, it is our biggest advertisement. To actually drive through the park with only the holiday lights on is like being transported back to childhood, sparkling swans swimming in our lakes. With our new LED lights the experience is getting a bit more high tech. They are so bright it is amazing with blues and greens so intricately wound into the trees. I remember the first time we brought my children up, it was definitely a great experience for them and for me as well. To see there faces light up as we drove through the 10-foot tall candy cane lane, it was a holiday memory I will always keep with me. The kids talk about it for weeks after, about the things they seen made out of lights. We have many large groups that bring buses as well as large vans through day care centers, schools as well as senior citizen groups. So many different people enjoy coming through the lights. If you are a child seeing the display for the first time or being taken back to your childhood every one comes away with a sense of warm holiday cheer. If you are in the area or plan on being in the Greater Cincinnati Area, please make plans to stop by and drive through our breathtaking Holiday Lights display. Visit our website for discount coupons and hours of operation.

Sam Mckinney and his mastery of Art!!!!

Sam McKinney was born in Lexington Kentucky in 1951 and spent his childhood in southeastern Kentucky. His father was a paratrooper and then became an electrician. The family came back to southeastern Ky. Where is father worked as an electrician. Sam attended Moorhead State where he received his AB and MA in Arts. Sam stayed in Kentucky to raise his family as well, he lives in a log cabin he built with his wife and his daughter. He studio is also connected to their home.
Sam McKinney is an amazing artist that works in many different media. From granite and bronze to free lance painting with oil and watercolors seems he can work with any material he gets in his hands. He has created many bronze busts for political figures from congress, to the speaker of the house and many other important figures.
Sam has also sculpted items for the war memorial. Sam also does many commissioned portraits for people.
Sam has been working with art in many forms for over 35 yrs and is in tuned with all that is art. Everything from bluegrass music, painting mixed media, bronze granite.
Sam recently added a new sculpture to our park. "Where for art thou" and it is amazing. I am a huge Shakespeare fan and fell in love with the massive piece. The granite separating Romeo and Juliet must be at least 14 feet high and the exquisite detail of the characters is simple awe-inspiring. I have spent many afternoons watching the sun cross over it and watch the shadows change.
Adams First breathe was McKinneys first piece in the park. He is a 9 foot tall bronze and Granite sculpture of Adam being created from the dirt and accepting his first breathe from God. Both pieces are so amazing and I have spent a lot of time at both. I love the realistic features, seems like you can feel the power and emotion from each piece. Please if you get the opportunity to visit the park please spend some time looking at these works the are stunning and inspiring. I have added photos of both in this blog. I will also put all of his information at the bottom of this blog if you are interested in digging deeper into his talents as I have enjoyed doing.
Sam has many forms of art displayed in many places from massive sculptures here at Pyramid Hill and Rhythm at Kings Daughters medical Center, he has also been to the UK to art shows there as well as Botkins sculpture show, and Kentucky Appalachian Artisan center.
Info about Sam McKinney
Serendipity Studios Elliottville, Ky.

www.sammckinneyart.com

John M. Hock The Gates

This month we are exploring the amazing work of John M Hock. We have one of his mammoth sculptures in our park. It is titled The Gates. John studied architecture and you can definitely see it in his sculptures. He utilizes 3 aspects of abstract construction in his works, Weight, Height, and Volume.
The Gates is a massive piece which stands over 12 ft, high. As you approach this piece you can feel the massive nature of the piece, though its intricacies makes it astounding, from each angle you get a different feel of the piece. When you first approach, it seems like there is so much going on from top to bottom. Openings and indents, amazing. Then as you look deeper into it you can see how the sculpture invites you in with its curves and vastness. I find it fun to see new shapes in it every time I drive by it. The Gates are located at the top of our entrance hill and can be seen from a many vantage points as you approach it.
John M. Hock has found a way to take painted steel and create this sculpture that takes your breathe away.

The Gates are made of painted steel which was stained and then waxed. The patina on this piece gives it more depth as each year passes.  If you would like to enjoy some of our many sculptures please visit our park located in Hamilton, Ohio.

Tony Rosenthal

I noticed Tony Rosenthal’s sculptures the very first time I came to Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park. The cube is very distinct large but not cumbersome it seems to float on its base like nothing ia holding it up absolutely amazing. I also fell in love with Bach Fugue 1. I love classical music and feel the music flow from the piece. I enjoy his complexity as well as the simplicity of the materials he uses. Tony has done many sculptures and many different genres of art. I have enjoyed reading about him I will add his web site here if you are interested in reading more about him.
Information:
Tony Rosenthal was born in Illinois in 1914. His early works were an exploration into metals that eventually became characteristically abstract. He is particularly well known for his amazing spinning "cube" works of sculpture that are seen in New York City, the University of Michigan campus (his alma mater), and now at Pyramid Hill. The Cube at Pyramid Hill was fashioned from painted aluminum in 1994. Tony was also a winner in the Pyramid Hill Bench Competition in 1997. His piece, The Bench, painted steel, can be enjoyed as a resting place on the edge of Lake Carol. A third piece, titled J.S. Bach's Fugue, sways gently in the breeze next to Island Lake on Gallery Loop Road. Rosenthal also has works in the permanent collections of the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art. He currently works in New York City.Tony Rosenthal

Tony Rosenthal created Sculpture in a range of mediums and sizes, working everyday in his Studio.

Solo and group ventures.

Throughout his career, Mr. Rosenthal exhibited all over the world in solo and group shows. In addition to the legendary Kootz Gallery, New York, Tony Rosenthal received numerous one man Exhibitions at M. Knoedler & Company, New York; André Emmerich Gallery, New York; Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York; Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York and Denise Rene, Paris.

Tony Rosenthal Art in Prestigious International Museum and Public Collections
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia
Department of Parks and Recreation, New York
Fashion Institute of Technology, New York
Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, New York
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. (Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection)
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

bach Fuge #1



the Cube

The Bench





never stopped creating Sculpture; he did so for seven decades, the first two devoted to Figurative Sculpture; in the last five, Tony Rosenthal created Abstract Sculpture. Best known for Monumental Public Art Sculpture,

Alexander Liberman and his amazing art

Alexander Liberman was born in Russia in 1912. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the early 1930's. At 18 he became art editor of the French magazine Vu, working there from 1932 to 1936. With the Louvre, he made one of the first color films on painting, "La Femme Française." And in 1937 he won a Gold Medal at the Paris International Exhibition—prophetically, for his presentation on magazine design. . He joined the staff of Conde Nast in 1941 and before long became the Art Director. Liberman began his career in art as a painter and a photographer, turning to sculpture in the 1950's. Now a world-renowned artist, his sculpture can be seen in all the great venues of the world. Pyramid Hill includes three of Liberman's works: Laocoon constructed from welded steel in 1982, Torre II and the massive Abracadabra, each made of painted steel and created in 1989 and 1992, respectively Four years later Liberman came to New York and joined Vogue.
I have been inspired by these large pieces even with the distinct edges they seem to flow so effortlessly with the surroundings. Alexander Liberman inspired more people than we can count from his magazines to his art and paintings, he has made me look at art in a different way and I hope you can come to enjoy all of the art at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park!!!
I hope that my blogs inspire you to take the trip to our park. You will not be disappointed. I believe that Pyramid Hill is the best Art Park in the world.
A few quotes I found about the park:
we went expecting to see a few statues and stay in the car most of the time... but we were wrong! I loved our trip to
"Pyramid Hill. All the art is really creative and they even have a selection of Really old statues(ancient Egypt and Greece). Over all this really exceeded my expectations." (Review from tripadvisor)
Located in Hamilton, this park of winding paths and wooded trails leads you into a world where art lives in harmony with nature. Internationally renowned artists featured at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park include Michael A. Dunbar and Jon Isherwood. Sculptures range from classical works of human form, to blocks of stone and bronze. Come over a hill to discover an abstract block of color, or wander into a meadow to come upon a muscled, classical figure.

Abracadabra is one of the largest sculptures in the park. Many brides love it and use it for weddings.
It’s also Harry Wilks Favorite.
(He is the founder of the park)
Shadows from the sculpture alter and change throughout the day making it look different every time you look at it

John Isherwood

This month I would like to focus on an artist, instead of a single sculpture. John Isherwood has quite a few  unique sculptures in our park. So I wanted to spotlight him as well as all of his works. I enjoy his use of modern materials mixed with nature.

John Isherwood was born in England in 1960. He has attended and received degrees from Leeds Art School in England, Canterbury College of Art in England as well as receiving his M.F.A. from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.

John Isherwood has contributed to many different collections. He has solo collections all over the world from Hamilton, Oh. to Beijing China. He also has group collections all over the world.

colonade

He has received awards from Pollack Krasner Foundation as well as the Jerome Foundation.





His sculptures bring me back to nature, he uses alot of natural materials and also incorporates steel in his works. The sculptures that are at Pyramid hill are as follows:

Collonade 1990-92

age of stone

Heritage 1993

Strength of Silence 1992

White Face 1993-98 

Remembering 1996-98

Untitled Bench 

Untitled  

Age of Stone 

 Jonas Passage 1997

Jonas passage



I am positive that he has more in here and I am sure to come across them. Pyramid Hill is vast and I discover new things every time I take an Art Cart out. I hope you enjoy his art as much as I do and if you would like to take a day and enjoy nature as well as art Please visit

PYRAMID HILL SCULPTURE PARK 1763 Hamilton Cleves Rd. Hamilton, Oh. 45013



heritage



A statement from his web site: The tension between shape and skin that characterizes Isherwood's work is further reflected in the tensions surrounding his technique and material. His sculptures are the result of a unique process in which the ancient and the modern confront one another: marble, the oldest and most sensual sculptural material, is carved with the help of high-tech methods. This allows Isherwood to attain an uncompromised precision in his treatment of the incised surfaces, which play with and against the swelling, fleshy, soft and yet substantial character of his organic forms.



white face

The Capulets and the Montagues come to Pyramid Hill

  While researching this blog I realized massive sculptures take a really, really long time to build (Do you build sculptures?). Wherefore Art Thou was commissioned in 2004, but wasn't actually unveiled until May of 2010—that's six years!!! The 17-foot, bronze-and-black granite sculpture depicting Romeo and Juliet's final moments, weighs in well over six tons. I suppose that would take some time to complete; certainly, if you factor in the sketching and editing processes. 

  Wherefore Art Thou  is Sam McKinney's second sculpture at Pyramid Hill due to his first sculpture, Adam's First Breath, being such a favorite. McKinney approached the late Duncan White, who helped with fundraising, with the idea for Wherefore Art Thou. After a little family-friendly editing, the sculpture was approved; Romeo and Juliet came to Pyramid Hill.

  But it wasn't so easy!! The black granite monolith arrived at the park a year before the figures of Romeo and Juliet were complete. When the doomed lovers arrived the sculpture was covered, and stood waiting for the ceremony to finally be unveiled. Set near the Ancient Sculpture Museum, Wherefore Art Thou has been a favorite ever since. If you can, bring a copy of Romeo and Juliet; pay close attention to who is holding the dagger and who is holding the poison.

The Story Behind Cincinnati Story

  Cincinnati Story  is a really big sculpture.  I mean really.  Even in the heavily wooded terrain of Pyramid Hill, it's hard to miss.  Imagine this massive structure in the concrete landscape of downtown Cincinnati.  Pretty impressive right?  George Sugarman's multicolored piece, inspired by the flowing waters of the Ohio, sat in front of the Chiquita Center for over 15 years.  If you think about downtown in the Nineties, you would surely think about this image.  At least a little.

  But in 1999, the Chiquita Center was bought out by Lowe Enterprises.  Cincinnati Story needed a new home.  Obviously, that home was Pyramid Hill.  However, you can't exactly fit Cincinnati Story in the back of the truck and be on your way.  So Harry and all the other P-Hill folks (yep, that's what I'm calling it now) pulled together their fund-raising skills and gathered the necessary $35,000.00.  No that is not a typo, did you think moving and refinishing a gargantuan sculpture would be cheap?  Don't be ridiculous! 

  So that's the story of how Cincinnati Story made it's way to the Gallery Loop, therefore remaining in the tristate area.  I really hope you weren't completely bored or completely aghast at my grammatical errors during this blog.  Stick around, next week I'll do the very same with a different sculpture!

  Oh!  If you're looking for more background on George Sugarman, you'll have to wait for the blog on that artist!

And we're off!

  Hello fellow bloggers/blog readers!  Welcome to the Pyramid Hill Blog!  I hope you've taken time to read our description, it will save me a lot of annoying repetition here.  If not, please read it!  I promise it's very short.  If so, let me give you some additional information.  The park was founded by Harry T. Wilks in 1996, with the Ancient Sculpture Museum is the spring of 2009.  The outdoor section of the park features 59 outdoor sculptures and the indoor museum contains 70 ancient pieces.  Park hours are 8am-5pm 365 days a year (weather permitting), with the Ancient Sculpture Museum being open 12-5. 

  Pyramid Hill has attracted national attention, and recieved visitors from across the globe.  We are looking forward to new visitors and members in 2011!  Please stay tuned for our weekly blogs, which will feature a different sculpture or event each week!