Exhibit of sculptures and animation by John Frame


Los Angeles's Huntington Library is celebrating the exquisite sculptures and phantasmagorical animation of Southern California artist John Frame. The exhibition, titled "Three Fragments of a Lost Tale," runs until June 20 and features more than three dozen figures and props, ranging from a few inches to almost three feet tall, that Frame crafted from carved wood and found materials. Also included are Frame's stop-motion film and photographs, along with the short documentary viewable above by Johnny Coffeen with a soundtrack scored by Frame. A companion art book, Three Fragments of a Lost Tale: Sculpture and Story by John Frame, is availble. From The Huntington:

 Wp-Content Uploads 2011 03 John-Frame

The figures are fanciful and carefully detailed, with both human and nonhuman features. Principal characters include Mr. R, an older figure with tall, rabbit-like ears; Cat V, a younger figure with a feline face; Argus, who wears a coat made of a hundred eyes; and O-Man, a sad-eyed astronomer outfitted with telescopic headgear. They cross paths with various characters and visit curious places, and along the way are accompanied by the Tottentanzers ("death dancers" in German), a performance troupe of 12 who travel from town to town, putting on morality plays and theatrical dramas…

Frame's work is heavily informed by the craftsmanship of the 19th century; in fact, he has said that his approach to the process of making art is most accurately reflected by a quotation from 19th-century English art critic and influential thinker John Ruskin: "Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together."

"Exhibit: THREE FRAGMENTS OF A LOST TALE: Sculpture and Story by John Frame" (Huntington, thanks Bob Pescovitz!)

Three Fragments of a Lost Tale: Sculpture and Story by John Frame (Amazon)