Past Sculpture Exhibitions

A sculpture by each of the following artists were displayed in the entry ways, foyer and front lawns: Daina Shobrys (NYC), Kevin Box (Santa Fe, NM), Albert LaVergne (PawPaw, MI), Ellen Rogers (Buffalo, NY), Michael Winger (SilverSprings, MD), Ira Sapir (Chicago, IL), Michael Maguire (Waco, TX), Mark Rumsey (Grand Rapids), Deborah Davidson (Somerville, MA), Steven Dobbins (Mt. Airy, MD), Sy Gresser (Silver Springs, MD), Jeff Tippett (East Grand Rapids), Mike Baur (West Chicago, IL), Bob Emser (Eureka, IL), Dusty Folwarczny (Chicago, IL), Ted Sitting Crow Garner (Chicago, IL), David Greenwood (Grand Rapids, MI), Terrence Karpowicz (Chicago, IL), Amanda Katz (New York, NY), Steve Maloney (Rancho Sante Fe, CA), Steven Mankouche (AnnArbor, MI), Julia Rogers (Bowling Green, OH), Eric Stephenson (Chicago, IL), John Warner (Walker, MI), Alison Williams (Goffstown, NH), Michael Young (Chicago, IL).

Through the generosity of Fred and Lena Meijer, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park assembled one of the world’s foremost collections of Modern and Contemporary sculpture. In honor of the Meijer legacy and in celebration of the namesake institution’s 15th anniversary, contemporary sculptors represented in the permanent collection displayed new work in this unique gallery exhibition. From Louise Bourgeois and Deborah Butterfield, to Mark di Suvero and Antony Gormley, to Claes Oldenburg and Tom Otterness, many artists have developed a special affinity for Meijer Gardens and the Meijers themselves. This exhibition individually examined the present endeavors of numerous iconic masters from across the contemporary scene and collectively commemorated the breadth and depth of the permanent collection developed with the support of Fred and Lena Meijer.

A large-scale outdoor exhibition, fifteen monumental glass sculptures to celebrate our 15th anniversary were located in locations as diverse as the English Perennial Garden, Woodland Shade Garden, Children’s Garden and Sculpture Park as well as several wetland areas and the great lawn fronting the landmark conservatories. Chihuly designed the exhibition specifically to respond to the horticultural focus and natural conditions of each of the respective sites.

American artist Michele Oka Doner is widely celebrated for her sculpture, installations and public art projects, and is similarly acclaimed for her prints, jewelry and functional objects. Among the most versatile artists working today, the inspiration she draws from nature is the defining factor and unifying force across her repertoire in both formal and spiritual terms. This exhibition, Oka Doner’s largest to date, examined the breadth of her endeavors from recent figurative projects in bronze and on paper to iconic functional objects in bronze and silver. Of special note was her site specific installation of more than 1,500 recently completed ceramic soul catchers completed during her residency at the famed Nymphenburg porcelain studios in Munich, Germany. This exhibition was timed to coincide with the completion of Beneath the Leafy Crown, the expansive 1,200 square foot bronze and terrazzo floor commissioned by Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003) was one of several talented British sculptors who burst upon the international art scene in the late 1950s. Inspired by the career of Henry Moore, Chadwick’s sculpture displays a fascinating evolution of personal images through powerful series of abstracted human figures, animals, birds and imaginary beasts. This retrospective exhibition featured 43 sculptures and five lithographs from the permanent collection of the Phillip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College. Beginning with the highly geometric and strongly linear figures and beasts of the 1950s, this exhibition followed the chronology of the master’s career through to the majestic and sensuous male and female forms of the 1980s. This exhibition was organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions in conjunction with Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

Alexander Calder (1898-1976), profoundly changed the course of modern sculpture and notions of public art. La Grande Vitesse in downtown Grand Rapids dates to 1969. The colossus was heralded as among Calder’s masterworks and was America’s first public sculpture project funded by the National Endowment of the Arts through the Art in Public Places Program. This exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Calder Foundation, focused specifically on work from 1969. Mobiles, stabiles, ceramics, gouaches, prints and drawings were featured. Works related to La Grande Vitesse were highlighted – including the artist’s large-scale maquette for the sculpture.

American sculptor and installation artist Jonathan Borofsky frequently utilizes stylized descriptions of male and female figures to suggest the commonalities shared across humanity. Central to this exhibition was a large-scale installation utilizing hundreds of color lexan figures, light and sound. Large-scale presentations of Borofsky’s major projects were on display, including his recent project for the Beijing Olympics.

This exhibition focused on recent work and forthcoming projects and Plensa’s use of the figure and text.

Seventy-three sculptures including "Little Dancer" and "Aged Fourteen" were the focus of this exhibition.

This exhibition, the first major museum presentation of its kind in West Michigan, contained more than 80 objects representing approximately 30 cultures of sub-Saharan Africa. The sculpture – predominately masks and figures – were associated with ritual and religious ceremonies. Additionally, connections to the permanent collection at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park and the development of Modern Art were included.

George Rickey (1907-2002) is internationally regarded as among the most inventive and influential sculptors of the 20th century.

British sculptor Sophie Ryder’s unique animal and hybrid imagery in wire and bronze were complimented by extensive investigations in drawing, collage and prints.

"The Thinker" was given to the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1922 by Horace H. Rackham, and has never been loaned to any other organization — until this exhibition.

American sculptor Patrick Dougherty (b. 1945) creates large-scale, architectonic sculptures composed of sticks, twigs, and branches.

Canadian-based sculptor Vanessa Paschakarnis has received critical acclaim for her bold abstract imagery and sensitive treatment of materials.

Following its debut in Grand Rapids, the exhibition began a national tour in 2007.

West Michigan artist David Huang’s metal vessels are carefully conceived organic forms painstakingly fashioned in copper through hammering and molding techniques.

Tom Otterness in Grand Rapids: From the Gardens to the Grand

Tom Otterness (b. 1952) is among the nation’s foremost public sculptors. Utilizing humor, irony, and satire his sculptures enliven public spaces across America and Europe from parks to courthouses, children’s hospitals to public libraries, subway stations to museums. Tom Otterness in Grand Rapids: the Gardens to the Grand is a landmark exhibition that places forty of the artist’s bronzes across downtown Grand Rapids and Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, capitalizing on the community’s distinguished public sculpture heritage.

In addition to the outdoor sculptures, Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park is honored to host the unique gallery exhibition, Tom Otterness: From Start to Finish.

This exhibition is a first for the artist, introducing visitors to the breadth and depth of his repertoire through the rare presentation of drawings, models, sculptures, proposals for public projects, and investigations of his working methods. Ultimately, Otterness combined time-honored artistic practices and current technology to realize the whimsical, storybook-like figures enjoyed by audiences across the globe.

This city-wide exhibition was organized by Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Marlborough Gallery, New York and Tom Otterness Studio in partnership with the

City of Grand Rapids, Downtown Alliance, Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority, and the Grand Rapids/Kent County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

Central to this exhibition, his largest in the United States to date, were the colossal stone Grand Rapids Arch and the related Herd of Arches, which is comprised of 11 smaller scale arches. A film showing the installation of the Grand Rapids Arch and an interview with Andy Goldsworthy was shown in the Snell Sculpture Education Center. This exhibition was unique to Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park and did not travel.

Pieces displayed in this exhibition were on loan from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC along with various contemporary artists from Umbria, Italy.

This retrospective exhibition was the first to honor the artist in the United States and was developed for Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park with the artist and his galleries in Berlin and Cologne.

This exhibition inaugurated the 10th anniversary celebration of Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.

This exhibition, developed in conjunction with the artist, examined the course of di Suvero’s career with sculptures on display in both interior and exterior settings.

This exhibition was timed to coincide with the opening of the Lena Meijer Children’s Garden.

George Segal: America

Quiet Beauty: Fifty Centuries of Japanese Folk Ceramics

Louise Bourgeois: Maman

Anthony Caro: The Emma Series

In the summer of 1977 Anthony Caro had the unique opportunity to work at Emma Lake in Saskatchewan, Canada as a result of an artist-in-residence program coordinated by the University of Saskatchewan. The largest pieces exhibited here were created in this context. Caro worked with skilled professionals and encouraged input on his work, often approaching people passing through the area for their comments or reactions to his work. The location was remote and part of a parking lot was utilized as a work area. As a result, scrap metal and equipment had to be brought in to create the sculpture.

The sculptures from Emma Lake and Caro's subsequent work inspired by the workshop are notable for their open forms where metal has been welded and twisted like a drawing in space. The concept of drawing in space was initiated by Pablo Picasso in the 1920s and Caro had been experimenting in this manner prior to 1977. The two-week Emma Lake workshop was the beginning of Caro's more open, “calligraphic” work with tubular steel composed in a linear way.

The Emma Lake experience had a profound effect on Caro's career and, in turn, the history of contemporary sculpture. Undoubtedly his most celebrated work in the United States, the commission for architect I.M. Pei's new East Wing building of the National Gallery, Washington, DC, directly reflects the style Caro developed at Emma Lake. Anthony Caro enjoyed the workshop at Emma Lake so much so that he modeled the celebrated Triangle Workshop on his experience. The artist began this artist's workshop in 1982 in New York State and it continues to operate to this day.

From the Collection of Ward A. Paul and Charles G. Schoenknecht

Color and Light: Chihuly at the Gardens

Magdalena Abakanowicz: The Skulls

25 Years of Edition Ceramics from the Edward and Ann Weston Collection

Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen worked together in equal partnership on large-scale projects since 1976. To date, the artistic team has executed more than forty monumental sculptures that are installed at various sites in Europe, Asia and the United States. Oldenburg and van Bruggen are celebrated internationally for their transformation of everyday objects into colossal works that are created with meticulous attention to aesthetics and engineering. Humor and irony invite the most casual of viewers to the work, but the most fulfilling experience is gained when audiences begin to consider the complete mastery of design and to explore issues of meaning.

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is honored to present this exhibition which focuses on recent projects by two of the most profound contributors to the history of contemporary art. This exhibition is timed to coincide with the dedication of Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen's colossal new work, Plantoir, which is situated at the very heart of the Gardens' new 30-acre Sculpture Park.

Master Teachers II: West Michigan Ceramics Faculty

Roy Lichtenstein and the Bonsai Tree

Rodin’s Obsession: The Gates of Hell, Selections from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Air, Space and Light: The Sculpture of John Safer

Marshall Fredericks and the Outdoor Museum: Illustrations by Christine Collins Woomer

Animal Bronzes by Sharon Sommers

Monumental Elegance: The Sculpture and Drawings of Philip Grausman

Tom Condon and Julie Moore

Philip Grausman, Big Heads

Master Teachers: West Michigan Sculpture Faculty

Rodin: Cornerstone of Modern Sculpture: Selections from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

James Karsina and Rick Stevens

Sculptor on Sculpture: The Photographs of Alexander Liberman

Richard Hunt: Rust Garden

Winifred Godfrey Paintings

Imaging the Divine: Sacred and Spiritual Themes by Marshall Fredericks

Salavadore Dali’s Carmen

Richard Hunt: American Visionary

Cows on Parade

Celebrating Humanity: The Outdoor Sculpture of Keith Haring

Patrick Dougherty: Jug or Naught

Echoes of Eden

Sculpture Passion—One Man’s Vision

Steel Your Imagination: The Re-Creations of Stuart Padnos

Featuring the work of Bill Mayer, Brenden Keenan, Catherine Smith, Cynthia McKean, David Greenwood, Fritz Olsen, Jerry Catania, John Running-Johnson, Kenneth Foster, Mark Chatterley, Mel Leiserowitz and Matthew Holland.

Kinnebrew: One Man, Many Visions