metal sculpture Archives » Michelle Trauring

Stargazer’s Future Remains Uncertain Following Devastating Storm Damage

Blog September 29, 2020

David Morris knew this day was coming. All it took was the right gust of wind.

When Tropical Storm Isaias cast a glancing blow on the South Fork in early August, it not only downed trees and power lines, wrecked cars, and knocked out power to thousands of homes, its hurricane-force gales also swept away half of the façade of “Stargazer,” its steel frame now exposed like a skeleton on County Road 111 in Eastport.

But this time, after a series of repairs that have kept “Stargazer” standing as the gateway to the Hamptons since 1991, the damage is just too much for a quick fix, explained Mr. Morris, who built the nearly 50-foot-tall sculpture with artist Linda Scott nearly 40 years ago. It will require a complete rebuild, from the ground up.

Roadside Attraction: Hans Van de Bovenkamp Headlines Sculptural Driving Tour

Blog September 23, 2020

At age 82, Hans Van de Bovenkamp has a twinkle in his eye. Shades of gray tease at the sides of his full, shaggy hair, but it holds its color. His sense of adventure is sharp, his laughter contagious, his creative mind vibrant.

Even still, “Now, I’m the old guy,” the sculptor said with a laugh from his longtime home and studio in Sagaponack.

He is referring to the once abundant cohort of abstract expressionists who established the East End as an art center in the mid-20th century. Despite their 20- to 30-year age gap, they were his friends — Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb and Conrad Marca-Rellito, to name a few — and an artistic home far from his native Holland.

Through his own property, he keeps their legacy alive — its 7½ acres dotted with 50 of his large pieces in what has become known as the Sagaponack Sculpture Farm, the last of nine stops along “A Hamptons Sculpture Tour,” presented by Louis K. Meisel Gallery through Labor Day 2021.

Bill King, 90, Remembered For Sharp Wit And Soaring Art

Art In Memory April 12, 2020

Scott Chaskey and his daughter, Rowenna, stood at the entrance of a rather unremarkable shed in the Northwest Woods last week, with dozens of soaring metal sculptures with long, slender legs peeking out.

They were artist Bill King as Mozart, Bill King as John Faddis, Bill King as Mary Magdalene. They were Bill King singing, dancing and holding hands with children. They were Bill King in the furthest stretches of his imagination — a magical place, his family and friends attest, filled with generosity, wit and the driest sense of humor, if it could even be typified as that.