Description:

Frank Fleming (American/Alabama, 1940-2018) , "Penguin with Head of Staff", bronze, incised signature and numbered "5 of 12" on proper left foot, h. 18 3/4 in., w. 13 in., d. 8 1/2 in.

  • Notes: Frank Fleming often attributed his becoming an artist to the hardships of growing up with a severe speech impediment. Struggling to form words, he stopped speaking in the first grade and did not resume until 11 years later, opting instead to use imagery as the main way of expressing himself. After years of intense speech and vocal therapy, he was able to attend Florence State University (now the University of North Alabama) but again felt himself to be an outsider. At the time, Abstract Expressionism was the focus of most academic art programs, and Fleming’s own views were at odds with his professors and peers over his need to ground his art in natural and figurative terms. Following his difficult days at university, he discovered the Funk Art Movement, and within it, the sculptures of Robert Arneson which introduced him to a new way of thinking and pointed him in the direction that eventually led to the formation of his own artistic voice. In contrast to the serious world of Abstract Expressionism, the Funk artists focused on absurdity and irony and the observation of these qualities in the natural world. Fleming took that spirit and combined it with his dark sense of humor and attention to detail and in so doing, created a uniquely surrealist way of looking at the world which prompted art critic Vanessa Gregory to describe his works as “whimsical and unnervingly Messianic”. The sculpture offered here is a prime example of his mature oeuvre. Blurring the lines between man and beast, “Penguin with Head Staff” has an almost mythic quality to it, featuring a defiant penguin holding up a human hand, finger pointed to the sky as if mid-speech while in the other hand is a staff crowned with a human head. In the real world where gentlemen used to carry fancy canes topped with elaborate carved animal-shaped handles, this sculpture comically reverses the narrative. Ref.: Gregory, Vanessa. “The Fantastical World of Frank Fleming”. Garden and Gun. Feb/Mar 2014. www.gardenandgun.com. Accessed Oct. 24, 2022; “In Memorandum: Frank Fleming”. Birmingham Museum of Art. Mar. 25, 2018. artsbma.org. Accessed Oct. 24, 2022.
  • Condition: If Condition is NOT stated in the description of the lot, the absence of a condition report does not indicate the lot is free of damage or condition issues. Available Condition Reports will appear as an additional image. Condition Reports and photographs may be requested on items until the Wednesday prior to the auction. Bid accordingly. All sales are final, no returns are accepted on the basis of condition.

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November 19, 2022 11:00 AM CST
New Orleans, LA, US

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$5,000 $9,999 $500
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