Lot #35 - Tom Sarver, Drawing

TODAY'S FEATURED LOT

35: Tom Sarver, Drawing
Giant Eagle, n.d.
16 1/4" x 13 1/4" x 1/2"
Mixed Media; Pencil, water color on paper.
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From September 2006 through May 2008, artist Tom Sarver operated the Tom Museum in a nearby home on Sampsonia Way. The Tom Museum was both an irreverent commentary on the museum experience, and a view into the artist's creative process.

Tom blends everyday activities and pastimes, such as cooking, fishing and gardening, with the arts of puppetry, painting and sculpture to engage visitors on many levels. His projects within the museum were inspired by everyday observations and experiences, including the weather, current events, and people he meets through visits, phone and e-mail. Visitors passing through the museum took part in a puppet shows, appeared on a talk show, enjoyed breakfast with the artist or critiqued his tomato plants. Audience interaction and feedback were encouraged.

ARTIST BIO:
Tom Sarver is an artist driven by the philosophy of the artist as “inventor” or “pioneer” of new ways of thinking. His work spans a wide variety of mediums including painting, installation art, sculpture, video and performance art. Sarver's work is characterized by low-tech gadgetry and the strong influence of Outsider Art or Art Brut. Sarver's work is also heavily influenced by puppetry. A self-taught puppeteer, Sarver has been performing in and organizing Pittsburgh's Black Sheep Puppet Festival since 1999. Political and social activism, common in grass roots puppetry across the county, has become prominent in his projects. Many of his paintings, installations and performances are centered on environmental or social issues.

IN THE NEWS:
His home, his work, his museum by Kathleen Ganster, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Puppet Master by Kurt Shaw, Pittsburgh Tribune Review
POP Video: Art Olympic Theatre, POP City Media

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Posted by JEFFREY
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