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VERONICA PENOYER
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This past week was important for the artists of Fredonia who welcomed metal and steel artist, Albert Paley. McEwen Hall was filled with eager students waiting to hear Paley speak of his numerous successes and to offer advice and understanding on his creative process.
Earlier this past week, students and faculty watched as Paley’s sculpture, titled Progression, was installed on the front lawn of Fenton Hall. This nine-and-a-half-foot-tall and 48-foot-long steel sculpture is on a three-year loan to the campus.
Progression was one of 13 sculptures presented on Park Avenue for Manhattan’s 2013 Sculpture on Park Avenue program. Paley uses a planar format and densely-woven organic shapes to create a sense of movement in Progression.
Though there was no history of art in his family, Paley went to school at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia; he majored in sculpture and minored in metal for his undergraduate degree. During the program he was introduced to all sorts of mediums such as painting, weaving, printmaking, ceramics, etc. Despite the many different mediums, Paley gravitated toward metal.
“Metal disciplines are very exacting,” said Paley. He later began to work with jewelry.
“The only time the jewelry is functioning is when it is worn,” says Paley when describing a piece of his jewelry. “It’s that relationship of object to the environment.”
Paley graduated and went on to teach. He continued as an independent artist for 12 years.
“This whole sense of organic form in bringing light in organic form is part of the paradox of working with heated metal,” said Paley.
Paley’s 30,000 square foot studio resides in Rochester, where he has worked on numerous well-known sculptures with the assistance of a staff of 16 people.
“I don’t see my studio as a factory, I see that time as a place of research,” said Paley as he looked at a photograph of his studio.
Among some of his more famous work, Paley has created numerous archways, gates, sculptures and decorative art such as desks.
Some of his more famous work includes forged and fabricated steel, brass and bronze for the Senate chamber in Albany; a formed and fabricated steel gate for the Cleveland Botanical Gardens in Ohio; a forged, formed and fabricated steel archway, which a woman bought and donated to the St. Louis Zoo; and a formed and fabricated steel, stainless steel and bronze archway for Adobe Systems Inc.
Along with the magnificent detail, form and texture of Paley’s pieces, the eye-catching awe is in the size. One of the taller archways Paley has created is 54 feet high. There is no drawback to size when it comes to his art.
“When in relation to everything surrounding the sculptures, you don’t want it to look awkward,” says Paley.
Despite them being magnificent in size, the danger that comes with working on metal sculptures requires focused attention. Paley Studios has had but only one serious injury: Paley himself. Thirty feet in the air, Paley was cutting a piece of metal with a blowtorch when a gas line burst, engulfing him in flames. He suffered from third degree burns on 30 percent of his body. The overall experience was humbling and changed his life.
Paley’s artwork clearly reflects on Paley himself based on the confidence and intimidation factor they both bear. Paley is a very driven blacksmith who has confidence in every aspect of what his work symbolizes.
Currently Paley is fabricating a sculpture named Syncline, which will be installed in the town of Riverwalk Center in Breckonridge, Colorado in 2016.