Five young sculptors have built a foundry in San Jose and are casting their work together. It is only natural that they should pick up from each other and Richard Mills and Stephen Daly are often on the receiving end of Holt Murray’s ideas. Richard Mills’ bony figures are more his own.
Holt Murray casts an elaborate Morris Broderson–Henry Moore image containing more design than feeling. This ornate, somewhat chi-chi image is the result of Murray’s considerable experience as a jeweler. Peter Tenau’s sculpture is usually a kind of lump-form, the rotting-flesh syndrome so easily achieved with lumps of wax.
The best sculptor in this group seems to be Daryle Webb. His work is a smaller, more easily palatable version of the slabbed and torn clay images being explored by many sculptors casting in Berkeley––notably Voulkos and David Lynn. However, Webb has fused imitation with invention and is arriving at many ideas through his own resources. Interestingly enough, Webb is the only one who has had extensive experience as a potter and this seems to be helping him now.
Some, at least, in this group would be turning out better sculpture, if they did not have to see each other’s work so much. All the sculptors are guilty, to some extent, of borrowing. At least one-third of this show is impossible to identify.
—Joanna C. Maglott
