Cincinnati
Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery
The adjective “wooden,” with its stolid overtones, has no place in discussions of Robert Fry’s wood sculptures. The works recently on view in “Redux” are lively excursions into an imaginary world where nothing actually moves, but much of it looks as though it might, just when you turn your head. Fry, based in Covington, Kentucky, has devoted his 30-year career to the sculptural possibilities of wood. He is fully aware of the different characteristics of, say, ash and walnut and combines them with their inherent qualities in mind. All of the materials for “Redux” were “recycled from old buildings and yards, fallen trees, floor joists, and sticks,” Fry explained in his artist statement. Some wood was also taken from previous sculptures. With the exception of Shed Some Light (2009) and Not Just a Bench (2011), all of the featured works were made in 2013. In Stepping Out, one of Fry’s most playful excursions, variously angled legs support a horizontal top; it seems as though music is all that’s needed to bring on a dance. The piece stands about five feet high and is somewhat wider than its height…see the entire review in the print version of November’s Sculpture magazine.
