Aristides Demetrios

Aristides Burton Demetrios (born 1932) is an American sculptor.[1]

Contents

Life

He was born and raised in Massachusetts. His father, George Demetrios, was a classical sculptor, trained by Bourdelle, a student of Rodin. His mother, Virginia Lee Burton was the renowned author and illustrator of children's books, including Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and The Little House, for which she won the prestigious Caldecott prize. After graduating from Harvard College in 1953, Mr. Demetrios spent three years as an officer in the Navy and then studied at the George Demetrios School from 1956 to 1959. He studied at the University of California School of Architecture, in 1959.[2]

In 1963, he won his first national sculpture competition when his proposed design was selected for a major fountain commission on the campus of Stanford University (The White Memorial Fountain: "Mem Claw" ).[3] Shortly thereafter, he was chosen to be the sculptor for a public art commission in Sacramento in front of the County Courthouse; subsequently, he was selected by David and Lucille Packard to design and fabricate the sculpture to grace the entry to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (Forms Sung In A Kelp Forest). He currently lives in Santa Ynez, CA.

Career

After successfully completing a series of monumental public sculptures (The 92' Wind Harp in South San Francisco; The Bataan War Memorial on the Island of Corregidor, Flame of Freedom; the 80' sculpture Cosmos, the fountain Peirine in New York, Breakthrough, etc.), Mr. Demetrios turned his attention to smaller works for private collectors. In the last few decades, he has designed, fabricated and installed a large number of commissioned works for the gardens of private collectors, including a great many bronze fountains. In addition, he has had several gallery and museum shows featuring his figurative bronze sculptures, like "Trickster", his abstract bronze sculptures, like "The Cube", and his painted or patinaed steel sculptures, like "Tomorrow's Dreams", the vast majority of which are now owned by private collectors across the United States.

In 2002, Mr. Demetrios won the "Santa Barbara Beautiful Award" for the most beautiful work of public art; the award recognized Mr Demetrios for the design and fabrication of the 18' bronze fountain, Mentors, which serves as the focal point of the Santa Barbara City College, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Fountain was donated to the campus by Eli Luria and Michael Towbes, two revered Santa Barbara philanthropists, both of whom have Demetrios' sculptures in their own private collections.

Wind Harp is a good example of Demetrios' monumental work. Placed on a hilltop in a South San Francisco industrial park in 1967, it is 92 feet tall and made of rusted steel. It's designed to make other-worldly sounds when the wind blows.

One Person Exhibitions

Group Exhibitions

Competitions and Awards

Major Commissions

Public Service

CHAIR. UN 50TH ANNIVERSARY SAN FRANCISCO, CREATION OF UN PLAZA, SF SAN FRANCISCO ART COMMISSIONER 1989-93 ACQUISITIONS COMMITTEE SFMOMA (ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN) 1992-5 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE UC SANTA BARBARA 1998-2000

Bibliography

Telemedia

A portrait of Aristides Demetrios; Prize-winning documentary by Eames Demetrios, first shown in April, 1987 on KQED-TV. San Francisco. Distributed by Home Video Artist Series.

Recent Collectors

References

  1. ^ http://www.sculptor.org/ademetrios_artist.html
  2. ^ http://www.sullivangoss.com/Aristides-Burton_Demetrios/
  3. ^ http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/june/claw-makeover-update-061011.html

External links