CAROLE EISNER

Abstract, industrial, recycled steel outdoor metal sculpture


 

BIOGRAPHY

Carole Eisner has worked with scrap and recycled metal for 40 years creating elegant, abstract forms welded in steel. The artist's compositions reflect the surprising malleability she finds with metal. She works with “the debris of our civilization,” reclaiming and reassembling disregarded fragments of buildings and bridges into art. 

Eisner's longevity as an artist is a testament to the natural marriage between her monumental outdoor sculptures and the climate of public spaces. 

Eisner received a BFA from Syracuse University. A life-long New Yorker, the artist splits her time between New York City and Weston, Connecticut.

 
Sculptor Carole Eisner.jpg

ARTIST STATEMENT

I work in steel. The strength and permanence of steel and its surprising malleability are essential to my work. Steel gives me the freedom to edit. I can assemble, weld, cut apart and reassemble the steel. I could not do this if I worked in a more perishable medium like clay, glass, or stone.

I have used scrap steel, including railroad gears, parts of bridges, and bolted I-beams. I particularly relish using ancient steel scraps, which are loaded with history and reference a previous life of functionality, to create art. Thus, industrial detritus begins life anew as abstract art.

In order to have materials to construct sculptures, we would travel to large scrap yards in Connecticut. We transported the scrap back to my backyard and would then sort them into scrap piles.

I have always been inspired by the steel itself. When a shape caught my attention, I would comb my scrap pile to find others that would work with it. I chose and amassed those pieces and would then begin to assemble the sculpture. The process is similar to collage. I usually don't start with a sketch, but let the intuitive and accidental take over.

Since 2003, I have been using structural steel I-beams to make sculpture. I discovered a fabricator who rolls steel for boilers and I asked him if he could roll I-beams. He didn't know if it was possible but was willing to try. It worked! He rolled the I-beams as I directed. After accumulating a pile of rolled and twisted I-beams, I assemble them into a sculpture.

In contradiction to the weight and strength of the metal, I wanted the I-beam sculptures to appear light, gestural and as whimsical as a line drawing in space. Because of the curves and circles, the sculptures appear to be in constant animation.

Recently, I have begun to paint some sculptures with automotive paint. This paint provides long-term protection for the steel. I have found that painted sculptures are very popular with the public; vibrant colors add another level of artistry and excitement.

While my small sculptures are exhibited in galleries, my I-beam and other monumental sculptures are primarily displayed in public parks. Although they are shown in nature, they don’t imitate nature.

I’m always interested in how viewers approach my work, what they see in it and what attracts them. Is it the universal language? The vibrant colors? A recognizable form? A new technique? Does the work speak to the viewers? Do they see what I see?

 

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019 SOFA Art Fair, Susan Eley Fine Art Booth, Chicago
2019 Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
2019 Onondaga Community College, Syracuse, NY
2019 Lockwood Mathews Mansion and Park, Norwalk, CT
2019 Veterans Park 8 Sculptures, Norwalk, CT
2019 Cranbury Park 2 sculptures, Norwalk, CT
2016-17 The Shape of Things, Octavia Art Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2016 Art in the Park, NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation, Prospect Park, Brooklyn
2015 Painted Sculpture, Silvermine Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2015 Konnected, Wilton Center, Public Art Program, Wilton, CT
2014 50 Washington Street , Norwalk, CT
2013 NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation, Tramway Plaza, New York
2013 University of New Haven, CT
2013 Westport Library, Westport, CT
2009-10 Carole Eisner on Broadway: Nine Monumental Works, NYC Dept. of Parks and
Recreation & Susan Eley Fine Art, Broadway Malls, New York
2009 Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, West Palm Beach, FL
2008 Abbaye de la Cambre, Brussels
2008 Galerie Valerie Bach, Brussels
2008 Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
2007 Château de Fontaine-Henry, Clavados, France
2007 Au Château de Fontaine-Henry (Calvados), Qu Art, Brussels
2006-08 Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, MA
2002-08 Heritage Park, Norwalk, CT
2000-08 Veterans Park, Norwalk, CT
2000-08 Belvoir Terrace, Lenox, MA
2000-08 Cranbury Park, Norwalk, CT
2000-08 Norwalk City Hall, Norwalk, CT
2000 Fordham University, Lincoln Center Campus, NY
2000 Fordham University, Paintings & Sculptures, NY
1998 City Hall, Norwalk, CT
1997 The River Park Atrium, Norwalk, CT
1984 Silvermine Guild of Artists, Sculpture Garden, New Canaan, CT
1977 Silvermine Guild of Artists, Sculpture Garden, New Canaan, CT
 

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023 Mi Parque Mi Tierra, Arsenal Gallery, New York
2023 Narrations, Silvermine Gallery, New Canaan, CT
2022 SPRUNG, Susan Eley Fine Art, Hudson, NY
2021 21st Florida Outdoor Sculpture Competition, Lakeland, FL
2021 Uncommon Ground IV, C Fine Art, Bridge Gardens, Bridgehampton, NY
2019 Art of the Northeast, Silvermine Guild, New Canaan CT
2019 Silvermine Summer Salon, New Canaan, CT
2018 Guild Group Exhibit, Silvermine Galleries, New Canaan, CT
2018 Contemporary Art, Silvermine Galleries, New Canaan, CT
2017 The Legacy of Silvermine: Artists, Art and Community, Silvermine Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2017 Celebrating the Art of Sculpture, Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, MA
2017 It's Happening, Public Art in NYC Parks, New York
2016 Danvers, MA
2016 Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, MA
2014 Danvers, MA
2014 Spectrum Sustainable Art Show, Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2013 CONTEXT Art Fair, Miami
2013 Downtown Abstractions: Art in Public Places, Stamford, CT
2013 RBS, First County Bank, Stamford, CT
2013 Stamford Marriot Hotel and Spa, Stamford, CT
2013 Re-imagining Past Possessions: Works of Recycled Materials, Riverdale, NY
2013 Allyn Gallup Contemporary Art, Sarasota, FL
2012 Allyn Gallup Contemporary Art, Sarasota, FL
2012 Aqua12, Aqua Hotel, Miami Beach, FL
2012 Sculpture Walk, Silvermine Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2011 Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA
2011 Onondaga Community College, Syracuse, NY
2011 Art Miami, Susan Eley Fine Art, Miami
2009 In the Abstract: Sculptures by Carole Eisner/Paintings by Liane Ricci, New York
2009 Sculptures in the Streets, Downtown Albany Business Improvement District, Albany, NY
2009 Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, West Palm Beach, FL
2008 Raw, Grand Central Gallery, Art Park, Miami Basel Art Fair, Miami
2008 Artscape: Outdoor Public Art, Office of Cultural Development, Pittsfield, MA
2008 Architecture and Landscape Tour, Silvermine Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2008 Chesterwood Museum, Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA
2007 Tossed and Found, Art in Public Spaces, Downtown Stamford, CT
2007 Qu-Art, Brussels
2007 International Guangzhou Art Fair, Guangzhou
2005 Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA
2005 Silvermine Garden, Silvermine Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2004 Public Library on Town Green, Pittsfield, MA
2004 Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA
2004 City of Pittsfield Office of Cultural Development Visitors Center, Pittsfield, MA
2003 Chesterwood Museum, Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA
2002 Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA
2002 Silvermine Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2002 Lock Building, Norwalk, CT
1999 Art on the Waterfront, Peninsula Park, Jersey City, NJ
1998 Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA
1998 Burlington County College Sculpture Garden, Pemberton, NJ
1998 Art of the Northeast, Silvermine Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
1998 Art Park Sculpture Garden, Norwalk, CT
1998 Lock Building, Norwalk, CT
1996-97 Lock Building, Norwalk, CT
1997 Institute of Contemporary Art, London, UK
 

 

COLLECTIONS

W&M Properties, Norwalk, CT
Lincoln Financial, Riverfront Recapture Park, Hartford, CT
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

 

 

COMMISSIONS

Stage Design for Theater XII (3 Leonard Melfi plays & 1 Sam Shepard play), Off Broadway, New York, 1978