Los Angeles's Huntington Library is celebrating the exquisite sculptures and phantasmagorical animation of Southern California artist John Frame. The exhibition, titled "Three Fragments of a Lost Tale," runs until June 20 and features more than three dozen figures and props, ranging from a few inches to almost three feet tall, that Frame crafted from carved wood and found materials. Also included are Frame's stop-motion film and photographs, along with the short documentary viewable above by Johnny Coffeen with a soundtrack scored by Frame. A companion art book, Three Fragments of a Lost Tale: Sculpture and Story by John Frame, is availble. From The Huntington:
The figures are fanciful and carefully detailed, with both human and nonhuman features. Principal characters include Mr. R, an older figure with tall, rabbit-like ears; Cat V, a younger figure with a feline face; Argus, who wears a coat made of a hundred eyes; and O-Man, a sad-eyed astronomer outfitted with telescopic headgear. They cross paths with various characters and visit curious places, and along the way are accompanied by the Tottentanzers (“death dancers” in German), a performance troupe of 12 who travel from town to town, putting on morality plays and theatrical dramas…
Frame’s work is heavily informed by the craftsmanship of the 19th century; in fact, he has said that his approach to the process of making art is most accurately reflected by a quotation from 19th-century English art critic and influential thinker John Ruskin: “Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together.”
"Exhibit: THREE FRAGMENTS OF A LOST TALE: Sculpture and Story by John Frame" (Huntington, thanks Bob Pescovitz!)
Three Fragments of a Lost Tale: Sculpture and Story by John Frame (Amazon)
