Ivan Chermayeff Sculptures

“Always in Chermayeff’s framed collages, and now, more recently, in free-standing collage sculpture, the New York artist and graphic designer fuses charm and wit in inimitable mixed-media inventions. But if we are seduced by the unique fusion, and delighted by a cast of characters straight from his own bestiary of imaginary creatures, we too easily overlook the depth of a vision that Chermayeff has evolved from influences rooted in the great Modernist revolution of the early twentieth century, in which his own father, Serge Chermayeff, took an active role through the Bauhaus and later Yale University.”

“Picasso always strived to sustain the inner child in his art, and Chermayeff’s works succeed in Picasso’s aim: they have the freshness of a four year old painting his heart out at the easel. Chermayeff’s inner child is alive and well, and the adult has channeled that spirit onto these mixed media collages.”

“Most of Chermayeff’s collages, even the very simple compositions, maintain an active surface that holds and then propels the eye. But his works are multi-dimensional, too: they keep the mind moving through strata of concepts, each tipping toward others. The surface image is simply the dominant text, within which there are subtexts that enrich the work with layered meanings.

…The materials that he uses also contribute their own autobiographies to the portraits and open the collage to associations that lie outside the frame. Pieces of the collage are recognizable and add notions of provenance…”