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Robert Brady

American, b. 1946

Virtu
1987

Stoneware
87 x 19 x 17 in. (220.98 x 48.26 x 43.18 cm)
Gift of the artist
2001.58

The monolithic figural sculpture Virtu feels anxious and strange. Free-standing and tar-like, however, it also impresses a sense of determination and immortality—as if it has withstood the tests of time. An array of vessel-like shapes are sunk into its shoulders and articulate a head. Near life-size, the sculpture activates space through its elongated form and active pose. The work’s textured surface is expressive and attests to the artist’s hand-built coil and pinch construction method. While Brady’s ceramic figures recall modernist sculpture by artists like Giacometti, their enigmatic and hybrid bodies also evoke themes from nature and sacred rituals.

Robert Brady spent his early years dreaming of becoming an archeologist in Reno, Nevada, where he was born in 1946. After his first ceramics course in high school, Brady went on to receive his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the California College of the Arts in 1969 and an Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Davis in 1975. Over Brady’s thirty-year teaching career at California State University in Sacramento, he expanded his sculptural practice to include other materials, including wood, mixed-media, drawing, and printmaking.

Sara Morris

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Robert Brady