In a studio piled with industrial scrap, busted-up cast iron plumbing fixtures, fragments of architectural decoration, and kitsch, Robert Hudson builds semi-abstract metal sculptures. He begins without drawings or models, makes a base, welds a support on top of it, and then adds elements by trial and error. Depending on his expressive requirements, he may tilt elements to create tension or employ forms that echo each other. He may add paint or bits of paper. Some of his sculptures move. Hudson’s process may seem loose, but he’s a disciplined, craftsman-like builder of sculpture. He’s worked this way for more than 50 years, acquiring an international reputation through numerous museum and gallery shows. Though he has refined his work, he has not dramatically transformed it. He has made paintings, drawings, and prints, but sculpture has always been his first love. Nowadays, he says, sculpture is “all I do, all I want to do.” Hudson packs so much information and complexity into his works that they can be overwhelming. Seen from the front, they have one personality, but this changes as we walk around them. The multiple, interpenetrating planes can be hard to follow, and Hudson may use color to decorate or to transform an apparent shape……see the entire article in the print version of December’s Sculpture magazine.
