Robert Sestok
Detroit, Michigan
Tel. 248 722 3550
Email: robertsestok@sbcglobal.net
Site: http://www.robertsestok.com/
About the artist
Robert Sestok is a contemporary artist, sculptor and painter, and since the 1960's a leader in the Detroit Cass Corridor Art Movement.
Education
1965 Seaholm High School, Birmingham, MI
1965-1969 College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
1968 and 1970 Haystack School of Crafts, Stonington, Deer Isle, ME
1970 Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
1971 Pilchuck Summer Glass Blowing Workshop, Stanwood, WA
Statement
Early in my career the 'downtown' experience inspired deconstructivist methods for creating art. People were using found objects and other non-traditional materials in their work, tearing things apart and reconstructing them, processes that harmonized with the reality of the Cass Corridor in the 60s and 70s, and in fact still does today. This period had a profound influence on my approach to art that is particularly apparent in my sculptural work. I began to investigate the influence of our surroundings on our daily lives in my work. I still spend a lot of time shifting between reality and abstraction looking for 'missing links' to expand this allegorical construct of conjoined figure/environment/abstraction. For my sculptures, I use positive cuts for the figure (a silhouette representing Man) and negative cuts to express architecture (environmental space and its baggage). Welded metal works for this, takes me physically and spatially into the metaphor ... making different objects connect ... that's why I like welding. There's also a specific kind of permanency that comes with the way welded steel withstands the elements, giving extended life to the work. Painting is about the edges, surface, content and theory. It's like a reflection of one's soul. A good painting will hold your attention for some mysterious reason. I keep painting for more than enjoyment. It's my way of seeing. It's my life. Purity is only relevant to the environment in which it exists. Education 1965 Seaholm High School, Birmingham, MI 1965-1969 College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI 1968 and 1970 Haystack School of Crafts, Stonington, Deer Isle, ME 1970 C ranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI 1971 Pilchuck Summer Glass Blowing Workshop, Stanwood, WA
Exhibitions
2007 "Driven: Art from the Motor City," Hancock, MI "Art in the Eye, Midwest Sculpture Initiative," Marshall, MI "Pinewood Derby," Alley Culture, Detroit, MI "Insatiable," Group Show, Biegas Gallery, Detroit, MI "Drawn In Drawn Out," Downriver Council for the Arts, Taylor, MI 2006 "Dictum: An Exhibition of New Work," Art House, Northville, MI "In There, Out There, Recent Work by Robert Sestok," Ellen Kayrod Gallery, Detroit, MI "CCS At 100: Alumni Sampler," Center Galleries College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI "That DAM Box Show, Willis Remembered," Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI "Artworks for Life," The Ritz-Carlton, Dearborn, MI "100 Anniversary College for Creative Studies," Detroit Artist Market, Detroit, MI "Detroit All Stars of Art," Cass Café, Detroit, MI "State of Mind Painting 2000-2005," Michigan State University College of Law School, East Lansing, MI "Top to Bottom," Zeitgeist Gallery, Detroit, MI "Outdoor Sculpture," Brighton, MI " Michigan Sculpture Initiative," Canton, MI 2005 "Aids Benefit," Masonic Temple, Detroit, MI "Children's Aid Benefit," Townsend Hotel, Birmingham, MI "Kinder Show," Juris Galleries, Detroit, MI 2004 Artspace, Birmingham, MI "Blissfield Corridor," Outdoor Sculpture Show, Blissfield, MI "Our Town" funded by DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Birmingham, MI 2003 "Heads," Zeitgeist, Gallery, Detroit, MI "Cass and Beyond," Padzieski Gallery, Dearborn, MI "Event Horizon," Alley Culture Benefit, Detroit, MI Ford House, Aids Benefit, Grosse Pointe, MI Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY 2002 Two Person Exhibition, Zeitgeist Gallery, Detroit, MI "Couples," Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham, MI "Obstacles," Cass Cafe, Detroit, MI "9-11 show," Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY "Unknown Spaces, Spaces Unknown," 4731 Gallery, Detroit, MI 2001 "Up from the Streets," Elaine Jacobs Gallery, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI One Person Exhibition, University Liggett School, Grosse Pointe, MI "Reality Check," Group Exhibition, Exhibit A Gallery, Birmingham, MI 2000 "The Tsagaris/Hilberry Collection: A Sustaining Passion," University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ "New Paintings," Detroit Club, Detroit, MI 1999 "Bloomfest '99," Cobo Center, Detroit, MI "Millennium Countdown," Group Exhibition, Johanson Charles Gallery, Detroit, MI "On the Wall," Cass Cafe, Detroit, MI "Sculpture," Detroit Contemporary, Detroit, MI 1998 "Abstract Trilogy," Sherry Washington Gallery, Detroit, MI "Confetti," Alley Culture, Detroit, MI "One Person Exhibition," Museum of Lithuanian Culture, Chicago, IL "Suitcase Show," Conductors Hallway, London, England 1997 "Art Suitcase, Will Travel," Shoestring Gallery, Jersey City, NJ "Sculpture Pontiac," Pontiac Art Center, Pontiac, MI "Goddesses," Center Galleries, Detroit, MI "Sterling Scapes Exhibition," Sterling Heights Civic Center, Sterling Heights, MI 1996 "New Millennium," Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI 1995 "Interventions Exhibition," Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI "The Next Show," Weber Building, Detroit, MI 1994 "Benefit Invitational," Willis Gallery, Detroit, MI "Benefit Exhibition," Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI 1993 "To Be," Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY Installation, Lookout Sculpture Park, Damascus, PA 1992 "Skulptur X7 USA," Roermond Germany Retro. Perspective, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI "City Scapes," Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Birmingham, MI "Drawings," Center Gallery, Detroit, MI Junior League of Detroit, Shaw House Designer Show House, Sculpture Outdoor Exhibit, Grosse Pointe, MI "Detroit Works," Kidwell Associates, Nashville, TN "Brooklyn Waterfront Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit," Empire Fulton Ferry State Park, Brooklyn, NY Two Person Exhibition, Feigenson/Preston Gallery, Detroit, MI 1991 "Sculpture X Seven," Kuiturforum im bis, Monchen Gladback, Germany "Sculpture in the East Village," Group Show at The Vacuum Gallery, New York, NY "Heads," Group Exhibition, B4A Gallery New York, NY "Brooklyn Waterfront Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition," Brooklyn, NY "Selected Work
Eshibitions (Continue)
1980-90, One-Person Exhibition," Macomb Community College, Warren, MI One Person Exhibit, J. Walter Thompson, Detroit, MI "Works on Paper (Solo Exhibition)," Kentler Int. Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY 1990 "Brooklyn Waterfront Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition," Brooklyn, NY 1989 "Earth Remembered," The Hook Gallery, Brooklyn, NY "Image and Object," Joy Emery Gallery, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI Solo Exhibition, Feigenson/Preston Gallery, Birmingham, MI "Michigan Outdoor Sculpture '89," Southfield, MI 1988 "Opening Group Exhibition," Feigenson/Preston Gallery, Birmingham, MI 1987 Group Show, Univ. of Houston, Lawndale Art and Performance Center, Houston, TX "Artists in Michigan: 20th Anniversary Catalogue Show," M.C.A. Gallery, Detroit, MI "Steel Sculpture & Drawings," Feigenson Gallery, Detroit, MI "New Territories: Five Artists-in-Residence," Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI 1986 "New Sculpture" (Group Show), Therefore Art, 510 Broadway, New York, NY "Duet," Buckham Fine Arts Project, Flint, MI "Michigan NEA Fellowships 1965-85," Detroit Focus Gallery, Detroit, MI "Artists Interpret Utility," Detroit Artist Market, Detroit, MI Michigan Council for the Arts (Artists in the Schools Program), North Huron High School, Port Huron, MI "Brooklyn Waterfront Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition," Brooklyn, NY 1985 "Sculpture Chicago 1985," Chicago, IL Solo Exhibition, Feigenson Gallery, Detroit, MI "Whirlpool Sculpture Competition," Saint Joseph, MI (Traveling Exhibition) 1984 "From Detroit 1984," Feigenson Gallery, Detroit, MI 1983 "Solo Exhibition", Race Street Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI "The Carson-McHale Gift: 13 Detroit Artists Remember Joe McHale," Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI "Recent Work by Four Detroit Artists," The Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, MI "Four Statements," Willis Gallery, Detroit, MI 1982 "Guts," Herron School of Art Gal., Indiana Univ., Indianapolis, IN (Traveling Exhibit) "Chatelain, Egner, Luchs, Newton, Sestok," Cranbrook Academy of Fine Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI "Kick Out the Jams Detroit's Cass Corridor 1963-77," Museum Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL Solo Exhibition, Feigenson Gallery, Detroit, MI 1981 "In Tandem," Michigan Council for the Arts, Detroit Artist Market, Pontiac Art Center, Pontiac, MI 1980 "Kick Out the Jams Detroit's Cass Corridor 1963-77," Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI "From Detroit 1980," Feigenson Gallery, Detroit, MI 1979 "At Cranbrook: 21 Artists," Cranbrook Academy of Fine Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI "Willis Revisited," Willis Gallery, Detroit, MI Solo Exhibition, Feigenson/Rosenstein Gallery, Detroit, MI 1978 Solo Exhibition, Feigenson/Rosenstein Gallery, Detroit, MI 1977 "Michigan Sculpture '77," Macomb County Community College, Mt. Clemens, MI Solo Exhibition, Feigenson/Rosenstein Gallery, Detroit, MI 1975 "Detroit Artist Invitational," University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI "Cass Corridor Artists," Somerset Mall, Troy, MI 1974 "All Michigan II," Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI "Forsythe Saga," Forsythe Building, Detroit, MI 1973 Solo Exhibition, Willis Gallery, Detroit, MI Two Person Exhibition, Willis Gallery, Detroit, MI 1971 Group Show, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI 1970 Michigan Artists Exhibition, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI 1969 Michigan Artist/Craftsman Exhibition, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Awards and Grants
1987 Pollock-Krasner Foundation of New York Grant 1986 Artist in Residence, Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, Michigan, sponsored by Michigan Council for the Arts 1985 National Endowment for the Arts, Sculptor Award Whirlpool Sculpture Competition, Sculpture Award 1984 M ichigan Foundation for the Arts, Individual Artist Grant 1977 Purchase Prize, Michigan Sculpture 77, Macomb College, Mt. Clemens, MI 1968 Haystack School of Crafts, Study Grant Ford Foundation Scholarship in Ceramics
