Michael Dunbar — in describing the joy he receives from the perfection of the elements of his sculpture — says "I take great pleasure in achieving joints of such precision that you can’t get dental floss through them." This comment exemplifies his approach to his work, which manifests a combination of mathematical relationships and mechanical exactness. His large-scale work does not display fluidity of form or impulsive emotion; it is the result of well-thought-out three-dimensional that reflect the artist’s machine-age sensibility. In no way do these processes eliminate imagination, animation, or aesthetics; they are merely subjugated to his industrial bent. Positive and negative elements of material and space do flow, but that flow is carefully controlled rather than vaguely free form or anthropomorphic. Dunbar is meticulous in design and precise in execution and his sculptures exhibit a mechanical resonance that has an effect beyond the viewer’s immediate response.
He has received many major commissions as well as being the subject of a monograph and a feature length documentary film. In addition, he was a recent recipient of an award from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Selflessly, Dunbar has given back to the Illinois art community by co-founding the Pier Walk at Navy Pier in Chicago, where he afforded other artists the opportunity to exhibit their work in a major public space
One of the most important influences on his artwork has been the machine tool industry of the American Midwest, where Dunbar has lived and worked for most of his life. More than simply a source of visual references, Dunbar has incorporated the industry's resources and culture into the fabrication of his sculptures. Working with craftsmen at foundries and fabrication studios, the artist discovered the means to articulate his conceptual and aesthetic concerns. From every direction his sculptures display intriguing patterns of positive and negative space, light and shadow, rhythm and pause, achieved by a profoundly subtle configuration of geometric shapes and connecting joints. The many references to clocks, spheres, astrolabes, sextants, compasses, and other mechanisms, threading through Dunbar’s sculptures evoke concepts of time, distance and space. He has long been fascinated by the beauty of historic instruments of measurement, which emanates from the necessity of their function. In his work, he strives for an equal purity of design. Fabricated in bronze or steel, his sculptures conjure the imagery of mechanical objects used to move and measure the earth, explore sky and space, and transport across vast distances. Arcs, planes and beams are balanced in ways that imply rotation or other forms of mechanical movement and now seem frozen in time.Information from Www.Artslant.com
Michael Dunbar has a published book Author Susanne Deats published in 2003. It is a collection of photographs of his amazing sculptures. I have the joy of working in a park that contains one of his great works. Euclids cross is made of Fabricated Bronze and is the largest of his pieces coming in at 12 tons and stands 21’x18’x30. It is an amazing piece of sculpture and helps you realize that you are small when you stand next to this massive sculpture. I have seen many wedding ceremonies done near Euclids Cross. It makes a beautiful backdrop to any photo or event. Please come visit this amazing and awe inspiring piece of art at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park 1763 Hamilton Cleves Rd. Hamilton, Ohio 45013.
I have the great joy of coming to work and seeing all these great pieces in all season and all light. I am speechless on some foggy mornings to look out and see one of the pieces just creeping out beyond the fog. Absolutely stunning. Here are a few photos of this piece!
