"New Orleans Bull"
Native American Pipestone

MARIANNE LERBS is originally from Caracas, Venezuela.  She currently resides in St. Augustine, Florida.  She has a Graphic Design degree from Instituto de Diseno de La Foundacion Neumann, Caracas.  She has taught, been a curator, and lectured extensively at universities in Venezuela and Florida.  She apprenticed with sculptor Thomas Glover W in St. Augustine.

Her works are in both public, private and corporate collections, including the Goethe Institute, Bankers Trust and Banco Latino, Caracas; the Office of the President, Florida Community College, Jacksonville, and the Grand Bohemian Hotel art Collection in Orlando. This is her first exhibition in the gallery since Hurricane Katrina, which struck just prior to her last scheduled show.

IN HER OWN WORDS

You can say many things with an image. The artist intention is there, but its interpretation becomes a more complex process. We are bombarded everyday with millions of images, sounds, and subliminal messages that fight and compete for our attention. Audiovisual ammunition hits us at every corner…every time you check the web, pump gas at the station, or use your smartphone.
 
Paintings and sculptures in the traditional sense seem an anachronism in these times, so the artist has to be very ingenious to create a fresh approach and visual message. It is my belief that anyone who has the sensibility and intelligence to appreciate this type of expression, has not lost the sense of humanity, the touch with the real thing, something that has not been mass-produced and still has embedded in it the soul of its creator and those who are exposed to it. There is hope.

THOMAS GLOVER W. lives and works in St. Augustine, Florida where he has a studio called Sculptural Stone and Wood Works, Inc. He studied at The Corcoran School of Fine Arts in Washington, DC, Chicago Art Institute and received his BFA from The Layton School of Fine Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1985, he received his Masters Degree in Sculpture from the American University in Washington, DC. He has exhibited at galleries and museums throughout the United States, winning numerous awards and commissions. This was his first exhibition at the gallery since Hurricane Katrina.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

The Bull Series morphed into a collection of small works, created during a delicate time. Artists, musicians, creative peoples of all flavors were being herded towards the cliff by an assault of economic tomfoolery that changed their lives. They were among the first to be tossed over the rock when economic fair play and security crumbled. Many lost their name, lost their houses, lost their cars, lost their will. You listen to all this stuff… excuses, wasted money, wasted time, and wasted talent, and can’t do anything, but, hope for change. Until then, one must deal with the bull.