R. M. Fischer creates sculptures that are lamps and lamps that are sculptures. He assembles these works from common electric parts and lighting fixtures that are available from any well-stocked hardware store , and he organizes them in ordered and stable compositions that exude a zany and humorous presence. R. M. Fischer's sculptures attempt to blur the distinctions between art, architecture, design, fashion, and technology.
Fischer's work belongs to the distinguished art historical tradition of assembled metal sculptures that was first pioneered by Pablo Picasso. Fischer's sculptures, like those of Picasso, Julio Gonzalez, and David Smith, incorporate functional, non-art objects and materials into abstract three-dimensional forms. In addition, Fischer expands upon the Dadaist impulses of Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray on order to enhance the surprise and skepticism that accompany ordinary found objects that are identified as fine art.
The pieces presented here are from the artist's latest series titled "Bubble World." These sculptures are constructed from polyethylene spheres that are lighted from within, and stacked and connected with numerous brass fittings and electrical wires They often contain as many as twenty plastic spheres of three different diameters, in colors of white, red, green, and black.
These objects seem to be expanding and dividing cells that are clustered together to form illuminated totemic hybrids that make reference to an anthropomorphic past and a biomedical future. Fischer enjoys making reference to the nostalgic past, to human body posture and height, and to an optimistic future. He also makes direct connections with the present, especially in his use of the same plastic balls that are used to identify New York City subway locations. As a consequence, the red and green lighted spheres are not necessarily a reference to traditional holiday-season colors, but allude to symbolic meaning of red ('stop' or 'closed') and green ('go' or 'open').
Describing his sculptures, Fischer states; "The lamps fluctuate between being elegant and serious, whimsical and crazy, but do not emphasize one more that the other....I am interested in objects that exist in the real world and that have quasi-functional purposes. I want to combine those two things....I'm trying to evoking the past. The sculptures are made of artifacts. I don't want them relegated to a specific historical time."
R. M. Fischer was born in Brooklyn in 1947, and received a B. A. from Long Island University, Brookville, and an M. F. A. from the San Francisco Art Institute. The artist lives and work in lower Manhattan, and has been exhibiting his work for over twenty years. His sculptures are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum, Jewish Museum, and Brooklyn Museum, New York; in addition to the Dallas Museum, Pittsburgh. Fischer has completed a number of monumental sculptures that incorporate lighting element for public spaces throughout the United States, most notably "Reactor Gate" in Battery Park City, New York; "State House Clock," Boston; "MacArthur Park Gates," Los Angeles; "Sport Stacks' at the Cleveland Sports Arena; and "Sky Stations" at the Kansas City Convention Center.
Richard D. Marshall, Curator
Works in the Exhibition:
All sculptures lent by the artist, courtesy Deitch Projects, New York.
ALCHEMY AND ACADEMY, 1998
Polyethylene spheres, brass, steel, and electric lights
92 x 36 x 46 inches
ANGEL STATION, 1998
Polyethylene spheres, brass, steel, and electric lights
55 x 46 x 40 inches
GENERATING SET, 1998
Polyethylene spheres, brass, steel, and electric lights
77 x 35 x 35 inches
WHOOO ARE YOU' 1999
Polyethylene spheres, brass, steel, and electric lights
86 x 28 x 28 inches