An exhibition of monumental sculptural works by Austin artist Colin McIntyre

May 9th – June 9th 2015

Colin McIntyre Sculpture Studio is pleased to present a one-month exhibition of monumental sculptural works, a project supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.  Shrine of Inevitable Forces will run from May 9th through June 9th, with an opening reception on Saturday, May 9th from 6 to 9pm and a closing reception on Saturday, June 6th from 6 to 9pm. The show takes place at 108 W. Gibson, in the heart of the South Congress district, in an abandoned church built in the 1930’s. Sponsored by Big Medium, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting visual artists, Shrine of Inevitable Forces is an exhibition on the WEST Austin Studio Tour. Both receptions are featured as Select Events on the tour.

The show will feature the current work of McIntyre, which consists of three series. The first group, Organisms is an ongoing series of works featuring imagined sinewy and flowing life forms forged in steel with the liquid metal sheen of nickel plate. The second series, the Hexobelisks are playful forms forged by selective hydraulic deformation of hexagonal tubing. 

The newest group, Ligneous Currents, is a series of large-scale sculptures made from massively buckled maple flooring from an abandoned 1930’s industrial warehouse in Dowagiac, Michigan. These formidable and monumental works will resemble the rolling waves of the ocean captured in tongue and groove wood, rendered into framed slabs that divide the space. Photographic works of Heather Gollatz-Dukeman will also be featured in the exhibition. Heather's breathtaking photos capture the incredible building from which the material originated and Colin's process of removal.

Shrine of Inevitable Forces is intended to be a thought-provoking reflection on transformation. The materials of the constructed world appear inert and still within a short span of observation. The works depict the responses in the materials to adverse forces of immense proportions. The reluctance to conform is clearly visible in the graceful topology of the works in both steel and wood.

Colin McIntyre’s work engages people's sense of mystery and wonder about the natural environment. He has been a practicing metal sculptor for 20 years and has made his life and livelihood centered around metal forging and fabrication, creating unique and monumental artworks. 

Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11am to 6pm or by appointment. 

“Colin McIntyre…is a great talent and artist of the highest caliber… His projects investigate the social history and natural history of place in a beautiful dialectic.” 
– Mark Dion, Artist featured in Miami Art Museum, MOMA New York, and Tate Gallery