River Bend - Elmira, NY - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

Porter, Stephen
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"Stephen Porter’s stainless-steel sculptures are meant to be outdoors— in fields, parks, or gardens—where his highly polished surfaces can reflect the atmospheric moods of the environment. Here, the mirrored surface takes advantage of the changing light, turning cold, sterile steel into a vehicle for personal reflection.
Although Porter works in polished stainless steel, bronze, and laminated hardwoods, he favors the natural quality of stainless steel, an alloy that doesn’t rust or tarnish, making it perfect for outdoor use. Stainless steel also suits his preference for a smooth polished surface, a commonality throughout his work.
Porter is attracted to basic geometric forms and credits primitive art as a major influence. He uses only two forms, circles and cubes, yet he never seems to exhaust the possibilities for intriguing design. Circle 34, an exquisite piece of workmanship and design, binds together two open circles, question marks if you will, in opposite directions, creating a multitude of surfaces, angles, and elevations that become inherently more complex when they reflect their environment.
Porter’s minimalist approach to design favors abstract, non-literal form. His appreciation for exquisite form is evident in the modern influences he names: Brancusi, David Smith, the Russian Constructivists (Rodchenko, Tatlin, and the Stenberg brothers), Henry Moore, Jacques Lipchiptz, and Barbara Hepworth. Porter begins each sculpture by making a small maquette, or model, from wood, a process that allows him to visualize his ideals and test his designs. He knows his craft well through a lifetime of sculpting and through his career as a Professor of Art at Penn State University where he taught sculpture for 29 years...He learned to weld at Cornell, and it was here that the circle form became all-consuming. “I did a lot of circles at Cornell,”"

TITLE: River Bend ARTIST(S): Porter, Stephen DATE: 1987 MEDIUM: Sculpture: Cor-Ten steel; CONTROL NUMBER: IAS NY000268 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: East Grey Street beside the Arnot Museum DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: The statue has been moved to the Arnot Museum. It is no longer part of a fountain.

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