George Tobolowsky

Exhibit:  Poetry in Steel
Dates: January 12- February 29, 2008
38 Works in Welded Steel

 George Tobolowsky

 Scultpure: "The Buck Stops Here!"
 2006
 Welded Steel with Laquer
 21 x 15 x 9

George Tobolowsky received his B.B.A. in accounting with a minor in Sculpture and his J.D. from Southern Methodist University in 1974. During his time at Southern Methodist University, Tobolowsky studied with James Surls and was influenced by David Smith  and Louise Nevelson. Like Nevelson, Toblowsky uses found objects in his work. He has scoured scrap yards and fabrication plants picking up an average of 1000 pounds of industrial metal castoffs per week. After cleaning the metal he welds the steel assemblages together to create sculptures.

Tobolowsky creates his fluid steel and stainless steel sculptures by looking at the scraps he acquires and then letting their forms create a sculpture. He prefers working with the pre-bent, molded, extruded, painted and punched steel pieces that industrial scraps provide rather than the more traditional metal sculpture method of casting.  Colors have been added to the metal by the original fabricators or welders in order to differentiate them from other metals in the manufacturing process. Tobolowsky rejuvenates and recaptures the colors and integrates them into his pieces, working with the original colors. Sometimes he finds a piece of metal photographs it and sketches his ideas onto the print.  He then welds appropriate pieces together to see how they relate to each other, working with the forms of the scraps to create balanced compositions.