- November 26, 2024
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If you're one of our Longboat Observer readers, then you’re familiar with Jorge Blanco. His half-moon cartoon, "Castaway," is a reader favorite. Also, you might be familiar with his sculptures around Sarasota — such as the bright-yellow geometric sculpture installed along Tamiami Trail across from Art Center Sarasota, "The Runners."
The Venezuelan-American contemporary sculptor, graphic designer and illustrator is busy. On average, he creates 10 small- and medium-scale commissions and one or two large-scale public art commissions yearly.
He loves site-specific sculpture, whether it’s large or small scale.
"I enjoy the direct interaction between the collector and myself, it inspires me," he writes in an email. But he gets a fair share of international and out-of-state commissions from collectors who come across his gallery work.
To create these site-specific pieces, he uses photographs and sometimes blueprints of the site to create sketches. Upon selecting a design, he creates a to-scale model. He makes all of his work in Sarasota where he is based year-round.
One collector, interior architect Antonia Hutt, found his smaller works at Sculpturesite Gallery, in San Francisco. She wanted one of Blanco's iconic "thinker" sculptures for her classic contemporary-designed home in Los Angeles. He oversaw the installation of the sculpture, "Thinker in Bamboo," who perches on the edge of her pool’s water feature.
“It is always a pleasure to meet a person that loves my work,” he says. “I have many wonderful friends that started out as collectors — they are special people.”
He’s currently working on creating a group of pieces for an exhibition that will take place during Art Basel week in Miami at O. Ascanio Gallery this December. And, true to form, he’s a thinker himself:
“I have hundreds of drawings and small models of ideas just waiting to become a reality,” he says.
Read more about Blanco here. Stay tuned to YourObserver.com for future announcements of his projects and musings.
