The Flomenhaft Gallery in New York Presents 'John Henry: Poetic Builder'

Written by Constance Townsend Friday, 23 September 2011 21:12

New York, NY - 'John Henry: Poetic Builder' opens at the Flomenhaft Gallery on April 28th 2011, with an opening Reception between 6 and 8 pm that day. The Flomenhaft Gallery is proud to exhibit the sculpture of John Henry, known world-wide for his boldly distinctive art.  Since the 1960's Henry's sculpture, both monumental and tabletop-size, has been defined by a minimalist and constructivist style, an incisive attitude toward composition united with an unerring harmony and grace. It is difficult to convey the magnitude of Henry's accomplishments.  His awards and commissions include the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation Educational Grant School of Art of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Alaska State Council on the Arts for the Anchorage International Airport, the Florida Art in State Buildings, and the Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art in Kyongju City, Korea, to mention just a few.  His works are in over fifty public collections and more than 200 private collections worldwide.

In 2007 Henry was asked to create the award for the 64th Venice Film Festival.  His sculpture, Scelto, was presented to British filmmaker Peter Greenway for his then recent film, "Night Watching." And Henry exhibited in OPEN 2007, in Venice, Italy.  He also served as curator for "American Sculptors of the Alps (2007)," which featured eleven renowned Americans and was held at St. Urban, Switzerland.  In 2008, Henry's 70 foot sculpture Star Pointer was erected at the Bay-front Exhibition of the 'Sarasota Season of Sculpture.' Extraordinary is Henry's Peninsula Project (2008-2009), dubbed "Drawing in Space."  Traveling around the Florida peninsula, he was inspired to create a monumental sculpture for a public site in each of seven cities, Orlando, Boca Raton, Tampa, Sarasota, Miami, Naples and Tallahassee.  The interaction between the community and educational programs resulted in enormous cultural excitement. John Henry was born in Lexington, Kentucky.

He received his B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1969, and an honorary Doctorate of Arts at the University of Kentucky in 1996. As a visiting professor of sculpture, he taught in the University of Iowa, Wisconsin, and in Chicago, and is currently the Distinguished Professor of Art at the Chattanooga State College.  He was Chairman of the Board of the International Sculpture Center since 1996 and is now its Chairman Emeritus.  He served as a member of the Advisory Board of Lawyers for the Creative Arts in Chicago, advisor and coordinator to the Arts Council ofGreater New Orleans for the Super Sculpture New Orleans Exhibition, and is currently Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

The Flomenhaft Gallery was part of Eleanor and Leonard Flomenhaft’s plan for a new chapter in their lives. Eleanor is also an art historian, and curated many exhibits for The Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, the Fine Arts Museum of Long Island, the Montclair Art Museum and the Neuberger Purchase Art Museum. Her most recent traveling exhibit, Women Only, has gone to 8 museums.  Exhibits she organized traveled throughout the United States, and overseas, to the Saint Petersburg State Museum and The State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia, to the Netherlands and to several cities in Japan.  She has juried many exhibits including the Central American Biennale. She has written extensively on contemporary art and wrote the first book in the English language on CoBrA art, the abstract expressionist art of post World War II Europe. Works by Karel Appel, Pierre Alechinsky, Romare Bearden, Beverly Buchanan, Eugene Brands, Jean Dubuffet, Henry Heerup, Carl Henning Pedersen, Faith Ringgold, Pat Steir and Carrie Mae Weems are just a few excellent works in the collection at the gallery. The Gallery is in a refurbished building in Chelsea and consists of two spaces, the main gallery space exhibiting current shows, and the annex, for viewing works by artists not on exhibit. Visit the gallery's website at ... http://www.flomenhaftgallery.com

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