3: Maisano's Menagerie
[Click image for link to artist's listing page.]
Moxy (left) with companion piece Roxy (right), recent but date unknown
Sculpture: Moxy h5" x d5" xw2.5", Roxy created in matching 5" size as well as in several larger sizes
Available as limited edition sculpture pieces on the artist's website, or through select galleries
Have returned from a fantastic long weekend in Austin, so can now pivot from Texas-in-general featured art to stuff that was created or is abiding in Austin specifically.
Made the trip into a few local galleries on Saturday, and above is work by an artist we found at the Russell Collection. In addition to showing there (he exhibits in other cities/states as well), Maisano currently lives in Austin, and his first sculptural piece was a life-size ornithomimid dinosaur for the city's Hartman Prehistoric Garden (located within Zilker Botanical Garden).
His sculptures are *almost* entirely of animals, with a couple rare exceptions. The emphasis of each sculptural piece seems to be complex form stripped down into clean-flowing lines and planes, with an overlay of more intricate patinas and carved design elements built back in afterwards (basically, complexity reduced and then increased in a different direction to show a different dimension of the subject). There are echoes of prehistoric art (in e.g. the subjects chosen, the emphasis on line/ silhouette, the carved designs, etc.), as well as overtones of design-driven movements like Art Deco.
You can see more of Maisano's sculpture collection here.