Richard Deutsch

Deutsch was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1953.[1][3] His grandparents emigrated to the United States from Russia in the first decade of the 20th century.[1] His mother worked for the board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union.[1]

Deutsch received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1976.[1][2] He originally worked only in ceramics, and was influenced by Bizen ware (a type of very hard, reddish Japanese ceramic sculpture and pottery).[1] The first solo exhibition of his work occurred in Seattle, Washington, in 1978.[1] In 1981, his work was part of the "American Porcelain" exhibit at the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution.[4] (His contribution, "Equinox," is now part of the museum's permanent collection.[5]) After several years of exhibiting on the West Coast and making larger and larger sculptures, Deutsch decided in the mid-1980s to work in other materials (such as bronze, concrete, granite, plaster, stainless steel, and terrazzo) and begin creating much larger artworks designed for public spaces.[1][3][6]

In 2000, Deutsch collaborated with choreographer Liss Fain on her dance piece "Quarry."[6] Real-time images of Deutsch at work on a sculpture ("Seven Stones," a 20 by 36 feet (6.1 by 11.0 m) granite piece) were transmitted via the Internet and projects onto a scrim and four background panels while six dancers improvised movement (which was intended to make them appear to be interacting with the Deutsch).[6][7] Technical difficulties marred the performance.[8]

Deutsch lives in Davenport, California.[3][8]

Deutsch has described his more recent work as an attempt to create an "artist-driven environment" in which the audience interacts with his art by seeing it, touching it, being able to stop and contemplate it, and move through it.[2][3] His public art is highly contextual, and he researches the history and setting of a site before beginning his work.[2] His sculpture is also often collaborative, as he works with architects, engineers, and landscape architects to ensure that his art fits with the site.[2]

Deutsch works at a number of studio/workshops in China, Italy, and the United States, and utilizes material from around the world.[2]

"Water Story," Deutsch's metaphorical sculpture about water's journey from the mountains to the sea, in front of the California Science Center.

The more notable of Deutsch's works include:

• "Voyage," a wall-like sculpture created from massive ship propellers, installed at the City Center in Oakland, California.[2][6][9][10]
• "Unity," a piece composed of several standing granite forms, also a City Center in Oakland, California.[6][9]
• "Against the Day," a rock sculpture at The Collection at Chevy Chase, a two-building luxury retail shopping center and 9,000 square feet (840 m²) park in Chevy Chase, Maryland.[11]
• "Axis," a sculpture of circular granite pieces set in a wooden groove at the entrance to the School of Engineering at Stanford University.[2][6]
• "Etude," a piece at the entrance to the headquarters of Applied Materials in Santa Clara, California.[2][6][10][12]
• A 70-short-ton (64 t) granite "garden" of standing stones in a memorial garden at Congregation Shir Hadash in San Jose, California.[10][13]
• "Hulls," two tall, lightweight, stone-like pieces which resemble sailboat sails in front of 500 Terry Francois in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California.[3] The piece was originally intended for the intersection of Main Street and Tiburon Boulevard in Tiburon, California, was never installed.[14][15]
• "Legacy," a large granite sculpture in the courtyard of the Constitution Center office building in Washington, D.C.[16]
• "Time Signature," a series of five stainless steel stacked circular forms in front of the Foundry Square office building complex in San Francisco.[2][17]
• "Stacked Column," a black basalt structure (similar to interlocking Lincoln Logs) in the lobby of the Regent Bal Harbour hotel in Bal Harbour, Florida.[18]
• "Water Story," a 5 feet (1.5 m) high black granite "mountain" over which water flows along "riverbeds" to an "ocean" (pool) below, located in front of the California Science Center.[1]
• "Harvest," consisting of bronze casts of farm implements welded together into a tower, which stands before the Oakland Museum of California.[1]

Deutsch was a Visiting Artist in 1987 at the American Academy in Rome, and received a grant in 1984 from the National Endowment for the Arts.[1] In 2007, Santa Cruz County, California, named him County Artist of the Year.[19]

• Richard Deutsch Web site
• "Engineering Art", a program by KQED-TV focusing on Richard Deutsch
• Gallery of Richard Deutsch's smaller pieces at the Gerald Peters Gallery