Charles O. Perry

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This article is about the American sculptor. For other persons named Charles Perry, see Charles Perry (disambiguation).

Continuum (1976), bronze, National Air and Space Museum Washington DC. The sculpture is based on the twists of the Möbius strip with a void in the centre representing a black hole.

Charles O. Perry (born 1929) is an American sculptor particularly known for his large scale public sculptures.

Perry initially studied architecture at Yale University graduating in 1958. He then joined the firm of Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill in San Francisco where he continued to work as an architect until 1963. At the same time, Perry started developing some of his own ideas in sculpture and in 1964 staged his first one-man show of sculptural models in San Francisco, which lead to some early commissions for his sculptures.

In the same year Perry won the Prix de Rome (for architecture) from the American Academy in Rome and left for two years of study in Rome, Italy — an experience which confirmed his switch to sculpture. On returning to the States, Perry began to concentrate on designing public sculptures, with Continuum outside the National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC, being his most prominent work.

In recent years, Perry has also diversified into developing chair designs, jewelry and a number of sculptural puzzles for MoMA and the Smithsonian Institution.