Alan Sonfist

... the man behind the art.

Alan Sonfist was born in the jungles of the South Bronx. His world was of smoldering fires, dogs eating trash, concrete streets and brick buildings. Each day his passage through terror was divided by local gangs, the South Bronx was his first experience with Nature. A native hemlock forest located several blocks away became his sanctuary. It was a deep ravine of the Bronx River near an abandoned ice-house. Turtles and snakes replaced the gangs, instead of wild dogs who would attack there were deer and fox who let him enter their world. Soon this world disappeared. More people, trash, fires, and deaths cause his sanctuary to become an addition of the already gray monotone carpet of the city. His artwork tries to recreate the forest if his childhood. His art records the deaths of the forgotten rivers, springs, and rocks, which lie buried beneath layer of concrete.

  	  "Since my art deals with simultaneous time, I do not make a
	distinction between my childhood, present and future artworks."

Unlike many others artists dealing with the land, Alan Sonfist did not switch from another artistic interest to a concern with nature. His artwork has dealt exclusively and directly with nature. He often consults with scientists to create practical solutions for his contemplative ideas. His work is distinguished by his use of natural materials as media. Alan Sonfist works to create monuments to Earth's natural processes, particularly as they pertain to native flora.

...artworks include:

• Time Landscape, 1965, is a contemporary recreation of the pre-Colonial forest that existed in downtown Manhattan.
• Element Selections, 1965- , selected elements are placed on a canvas in the same relationship as that in which they were found. The canvas remains in the environment to be modified by the elements and eventually submerged into nature.
• Crystal Monument, 1966-1972, a Lucite globe containing crystals that change form and location continually in response to the temperature and air currents in the surrounding atmosphere.
• Circle of Life, 1985-2085, the reclamation of a natural forest with a metaphoric statement of human intervention.
• Rock Monument of Buffalo, 1965-1978, rocks selected from the Buffalo area and positioned in the same relationship in which they were found.
• Pool of Earth, 1975, earth surrounded by a ring of rocks, diam. 50'. In a chemical-waste dump a circle of soil was placed to catch drifting seeds and begin the rebirth of the original forest.
• Icon of Houston, 1990, 12 by 12 foot canvas, earth, and gold leaf. Earth from Houston formed into a modernist, patchwork grid.
• Oak Tree Looking as Its Future, 1990 or 1991, a small oak tree in a glass bowl, sitting in front of a garden bench made of oak lumber.
• The Endangered Maple Forest of the Northeast, 1990 or 1991, a 30-inch box containing maple seeds.

...sources of information

• Alloway, Lawrence. Alan Sonfist Autobiography. 1977.
• Carpenter, Jonathan, ed. Alan Sonfist. "Alan Sonfist's Public Sculptures." Art in the Land. New York, 1983. 142(16).
• Faust, Gretchen. "Alan Sonfist." Arts Magazine. Nov 1991. v66. p94(1).
• Hall, Carol, ed. Alan Sonfist. "Alan Sonfist." Art in the Land. New York, 1983. p52(4).
• Heartney, Eleanor. "Alan Sonfist." ARTnews. Nov 1991. v90. p133(2).
• Johnson, Ken. "Alan Sonfist at LedisFlam." Art in America. Jan 1992. v80. p109(1).
• Oakes, Baile. "Alan Sonfist." Sculpting with the Environment. 1995. p158(8).
• Rosenthal, Mark, ed. Alan Sonfist. "Idealized Landscape." Art in the Land. New York, 1983. p68(8).
• Saltz, Jerry. "Alan Sonfist's Slice of Life." Arts Magazine. May 1989. v63. p13(2).
• Smith, Roberta. "Alan Sonfist." The New York Times. Oct 11, 1991. v141. pC28.

This information was compiled by Matt Vinten (2-14-97).

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