Delaware Art Museum exhibition showcases distinguished artist’s work over five decades.
Opening June 25, “Stan Smokler: Steel in Flux” showcases the celebrated Brandywine Valley artist in an indoor-outdoor exhibition at the Delaware Art Museum. Five decades of Smokler’s steel sculptures and drawings will be displayed in the Museum’s galleries and outside in the Copeland Sculpture Garden.
Smokler assembles, reshapes, and resurfaces discarded steel objects, including cogs, springs, pipes and beams, into expressive works of art. The resulting sculptures span a range of references from geometric to organic, from the whimsical to the celestial. The artist often sketches his finished works to further understand volume in space. The upcoming exhibition brings together large- and small-scale sculpture and drawings from the late 1970s through 2020.
“Stan Smokler’s celebrated, steel sculptures continue the trajectory of modernist abstraction,” shares Curator of Contemporary Art Margaret Winslow. “This Distinguished Artist Series Exhibition showcases the breadth of Smokler’s experimentation in form and metal.”
The Distinguished Artist Series is a celebration of those artists who have impacted contemporary art in the greater Brandywine Valley through their artistic practices, teaching, and support of the community. With his commitment to exploring the possibilities of steel and mentoring students through his numerous Marshall Bridge workshops and years at the Delaware College of Art and Design, Stan Smokler has guided the trajectory of contemporary abstract sculpture.
Stan Smokler was born in New York City in 1944. He received his undergraduate degree in studio art at the University of Pittsburgh and his master of fine arts degree at Pratt Institute. Relocating to the Brandywine Valley in 1999, Smokler participated in the Delaware Division of the Arts’ Artist in Residence program from 1996 to 1999, served on the Board of the Delaware Contemporary, and taught at the Delaware College of Art and Design. Smokler’s extensive career includes groups shows at the Rizzoli International Gallery (New York), Salmagundi Club (New York), Everson Museum of Art (Syracuse, NY), Delaware Art Museum (Wilmington), and the Delaware Contemporary (Wilmington), and solo exhibitions at Kim Foster Gallery (New York), Blue Streak Gallery (Wilmington, DE), Albright College (Reading, PA), Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH), West Chester University (PA), and Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library (DE). Smokler’s sculptures can be found in the collections of Albright College, Dansko (West Grove, PA), and the Delaware Art Museum. In 2004, Smokler established his Marshall Bridge Workshop, an immersive training opportunity for artists of all levels interested in working with welded steel.
Organizer and Sponsors: “Stan Smokler: Steel in Flux” was organized by the Delaware Art Museum. This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com.
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: “Stan Smokler: Steel in Flux” exhibition
WHEN: June 25 – Sept. 11, with outdoor sculptures extended through Oct. 30.
WHERE: Delaware Art Museum, 2301 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington, DE 19806
COST: Free with admission
INFO: delart.org
About the Delaware Art Museum
For over 100 years, the Museum has served as a primary arts and cultural institution in Delaware. It is alive with experiences, discoveries, and activities to connect people with art and with each other. Originally created in 1912 to honor the renowned illustrator and Wilmington-native, Howard Pyle, the Museum’s collection has grown to over 12,000 works of art in our building and sculpture garden. Also recognized for British Pre-Raphaelite art, the Museum is home to the most comprehensive Pre-Raphaelite collection on display outside of the United Kingdom, and a growing collection of significant contemporary art.
Under the leadership of our Board of Trustees, the Delaware Art Museum is implementing a comprehensive approach to community and civic engagement. This exciting new strategic direction requires that we increase our value and relevance to all audiences. Visit delart.org to for the latest exhibitions, programs, and performances or connect with us via social media.
Image, left to right: Hieronymus Bosch: Garden of Earthly Delights, 2015. Stan Smokler (born 1944). Welded steel assemblage with found and fabricated objects, bronze, and paint, 49 × 29 × 28 inches. Courtesy of the artist. © Stan Smokler. Photograph by Terry Roberts. | Fibonacci, 2013. Stan Smokler (born 1944). Steel and paint, 20 x 19 x 13 inches. Courtesy of the artist. © Stan Smokler. Photograph by Terry Roberts.