Tom Nussbaum: Heads and Tales

Tom Nussbaum: Heads and Tales

March 31 – May 10, 2014

Reception and gallery talk: Wednesday, April 16, 5 – 7 pm

Heads and Tales is an exhibition of selected studio work from the last sixteen years that represents a progression in Nussbaum's practice that moves between the representational and the abstract. The exhibition includes diverse mediums in which Nussbaum locates common attributes that embody a narrative framework.

Tom says of his work, “My work is the result of a process of self-discovery, a personal mining of images that have psychological meaning. Some of the work expresses interior feelings, and much of it focuses on relationships; between family members and friends, between the individual and society, and between the conscious and subconscious self.

This new work originates in my life long interest in building things that express my view of the world using form and color and connections found in the patterns and construction of fabrics and textiles from around the world, forms found in nature (think of atomic models and cell structure) man made patterns such as interconnecting circuits and the world wide web.  The free-standing forms reflect my interest in architecture and the structural frameworks of buildings and towers, mixed with references to the human figure.  In some way these are all figures and vessel forms or containers, and as such also connect to my earlier work and the history of ceramics and basket making. “

Tom Nussbaum is known for a variety of work including drawings, paper cuts, prints, sculpture, children’s books, animations, functional design objects, and site-specific commissions. His sculpture and works on paper have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States.  Since 1987 he has completed over thirty site-specific commissions located in a variety of public settings including public plazas, train stations, schools, hospitals, and environmental centers.

Nussbaum is also known for his design objects that are valued by collectors.  In 1985 he began The Acme Robot Company, a cottage industry producing night-lights and light fixtures of his design.  In 1988 he founded Atomic Iron Works, designing and producing iron hat and coat racks and other useful items.  In 1992 Children’s Universe/ Rizzoli published his activity book, “My World is Not Flat”.

Nussbaum has been a visiting artist and lecturer at colleges and universities, and has served on many peer review panels and juries.  He has been awarded two New Jersey State Individual Artist Fellowships and has been a three time MacDowell Colony Fellow.

He currently works from his studios in Montclair, NJ, and Burlington Flats, NY. 

His work can be seen on his website; tomnussbaum.com

Admission to the gallery, lecture and reception is free and open to the public. Regular gallery hours are Monday – Friday, 10 am to 5 pm (with extended hours on Wednesdays to 7 pm); and Saturday, 12 to 5 pm. For more information, call 856-256-4521 or visit www.rowan.edu/artgallery.

Rowan University Art Gallery is located on the lower level of Westby Hall on the university campus, Route 322 in Glassboro, NJ.