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Robert Loebell
USA
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“Ever since I was a child, my parents always took my brother and me to museums, theatre, and orchestra concerts.”
Robert Loebell grew up in Philadelphia and even as a child, he had been connected to art in various forms, be it orchestra, theatre, or museums. Those frequent visits to art shows and museums have had a great influence on Loebell’s becoming an artist – it instilled in him the feeling, that art is an important part of everyone’s life
Walking With Suman, Nepal | Wood Carving
$3,500
X 32
From my trip to Nepal for my son's wedding, I was honored to have a behind the scenes tour of Kathmandu from his wife's father, Suman. The images are from several of the places we walked, many of which are part of his family history. The wire that holds the carvings together is actually what the city looks like with electric and internet wires strung everywhere.
The artist started taking an interest in creating art in his public high school, thanks to his art teachers. They not only motivated him to continue creating but also encouraged him to apply for arts in college: and that is how Robert ended up at Tyler School of Art, the art school of Temple University.
You Can't See Me | Wood Carving
$3,500
40 X 12
The images are from an encounter with a Rhino during a safari in Nepal. . I am interested in suggesting movement through time and space by using a series of images. The Rhino started far away across the river and slowly moved closer until he was blocking the road.
It was during his college days, that Robert thinks he gravitated to sculpture. His peaked interest in sculpting arose from his need to always be building or molding something with his own hands. He has experimented with several materials; plastic, glass, clay, and metal, but always seemed to return to using wood.
“My parents and I lived in an apartment and they patiently let me fill it up with some pretty big sculptures."
After Robert graduated, he believes he was lucky to get some early shows in Philadelphia. His first was at the Newman Gallery, which led to a show at the Woodmere Museum and he has never looked back since then. He also got a few reviews during those shows, and in one he was called ‘A Magic Carpenter’
John Kelly's Game, Celtics Playoff | Wood Carving
$3,000.00
7 X 51
The images are from pictures I took at the first basketball playoff game I attended. Rather than one image, I use a series of images to suggest movement. My friend John Kelly is a lifelong Celtics fan so I had to include him in the title. The wood is Cherry.
The image in this sculpture is of protesters breaking into the US Capital on January 6. They are pieced together by wire suggesting a broken window. The woods used are Osage Orange and Bloodwood.
Insurrection #1 | Wood Carving
$1,800
19 X 24
Robert also takes an interest in literature and he believes that a lot of his work is influenced by the literary works he consumes. For example, Walden by Thoreau inspired him so much that he created a sculpture based on Walden called ‘Walden Store’. Another project was influenced by Joyce’s Ulysses.
“Literature and other pieces of art have always inspired me. My brother is a writer and several of my sculptures use text from his poems as part of my work.”
“My influences in art are pretty wide-ranging. I like the sculptures of Louise Bourgeois and David Smith, the paintings of Thomas Eakins, renaissance and earlier altarpieces, carvings of German Limewood artists, contemporary art of the 50’s-70’s, and the paintings of Philip Guston to name just a few.”
A lot of Robert’s work is often influenced by pictures he takes while traveling. Recently, when he was in Nepal he created a sculpture of a Rhino on the road. Another of a walk through the roads of Kathmandu, and another of his son’s wedding there. He uses his own photographs as a starting point in his work.
Insurrection #3 | Wood Carving
$2,800
14 X 16
This piece is meant to honor the Capital police, who are sculpted in Blue Mahoe wood. The background is of the Capital Statuary Hall, in Mahogany. The climbing figure is made with Bloodwood.
He migrates his photographs to three dimensions through his sculptors, but not as mere reproductions of the images. The carving process transforms the pictures into something more like a memory. They may be single carvings or a series of carvings within a sculpture, whichever creates the narrative of that specific time and place
Wedding Dance | Wood Carving
$2,500
18 X 33
This collage-like sculpture is inspired by the painting by Pieter Bruegel, 'Wedding Dance'. The images are from photographs I took at a wedding. The wood is called Purple Heart, and is very hard but one of the more sustainable hardwoods.
One of the biggest challenges Robert faces in his work comes from the carving process. He describes carving as a very slow and deliberate process. It often proceeds at the rate of inches at a time. Every type of wood requires its own touch. But that is also what satiates him, because the time a piece takes to be carved, allows him to create a relationship with the subject in his images.
The Purple Heart carving is inspired by a Friday night gallery stroll that spilled into the street in Provincetown. It is inspired by the flat Egyptian relief carvings that simplify the figures but still manage to be very expressive.
Gallery Opening, P'town | Wood Carving
$2,500
18 X 33
“I am an artist member of the New York Sculptors Guild, the Canton CT Artist Guild, First Street Gallery ‘Affiliates’, and The Silvermine Guild of Artists.”
Provincetown Street Scene #1 | Wood Carving
$2,800
16 X 17
Using my Pictures from Provincetown, I carved a much deeper relief into this maple log. I'm interested in the way photographs create perspective and how that can be translated into three dimensions. The wood is burned and painted to suggest black and white pictures.
Robert uses all types of carving tools in his work, from the smallest hand chisels to rotary tools and power carvers. He has used wood that is considered good carving wood like cherry, mahogany, and maple. But his favorite woods are the ones that are the most challenging and beautiful; Purpleheart, Wenge, Osage Orange, Yellowheart.
This is from the series of Provincetown Street Scenes. It is carved in maple. I'm interested in exploring the shallow space in the maple half log to create a feeling of depth. Pyrography, (the art of wood burning) allows me to draw different textures in the wood and with white paint suggest a black and white photo that was the reference for the piece.
Provincetown Street Scene #2 | Wood Carving
$2,800
26 X 16
Robert has had exhibits throughout New England, as well as in Philadelphia and New York. His work has been exhibited at the United Nations, First Street Gallery, The New York Sculptors Guild Gallery, Governors Island, Plaxall Gallery, 14 Sculptors Gallery in New York; Boston Sculptors Gallery in Boston; Woodmere Museum and Newman Galleries in Philadelphia; the Mystic Art Museum, Silvermine Gallery, Pearl Street Gallery and Real Art Ways in Connecticut.
Chaim Gross Makes A Movie |Wood Carving
$1,600
26 X 16
Chaim Gross was a well known sculptor in the early 20th century. I am interested in using images from archives, particularly where an artists home and studio are part of the picture. This was one of several photos shared from the Chaim and Mimi Gross Foundation in New York. It shows the artist doing a carving while he was making a movie explaining his process. The whole picture feels like a sculpture to me, and it was interesting to explore all the details in his studio through the picture.
“I have received grants and won awards for my work at different shows and I was also a visiting artist at Weir Farm in Ridgefield, Connecticut.”
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