Beacon foundry's work dazzles artist

Sculpture bound for Washington

By Nicole Edwards
Poughkeepsie Journal

 

Darryl Bautista/Poughkeepsie Journal John Safer looks at his reflection in his 70-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture cast at Tallix in Beacon.

Darryl Bautista/Poughkeepsie Journal Safer's 70-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture "Ascent."

John Safer couldn't help but be surprised by what he had done.

Safer typically feels at peace when gazing at one of his sculptures, but upon seeing his largest work to date on Tuesday, his reaction was amazement.

''It's a dream for me to see it there,'' said Safer as he walked toward the rippling stream of steel for the first time. ''This specific piece was a vision, a remarkable power of three-dimensional visualization. Every sculptor has it or they wouldn't be sculpting.''

''Ascent,'' the 70-foot-tall sculpture slithering toward the sky at the entrance of Tallix art foundry in Beacon, where it was cast, can be spotted as one rounds the curves toward the site on Fishkill Avenue. ''Ascent'' will remain there until August 2003 before reaching its permanent destination in Washington, D.C.

''It feels like a baby that's grown up,'' said Safer's wife, Joy, who traveled with him to Beacon from their home near D.C. ''It's just breathtaking.''

Viewed at museum

Safer, 79, was commissioned to create the sculpture for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, scheduled to open at Washington Dulles International Airport in December 2003. His piece ''Web of Space'' is at the existing Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in the nation's capital, which holds the world's largest historic air and spacecraft collection.

Between careers as a television executive, a presidential campaign organizer and a real estate developer, all following his graduation from Harvard Law School, Safer developed a love for sculpture. He also worked in theater, helping with set designs and dabbling in photography.

''I think that's a worthwhile thing because it develops the eye,'' Safer said.

He has a theory about art that accompanies his explanation of how good art should impact the human spirit.

''You don't need language to understand art,'' Safer said. ''The world is divided by so much culture, what bridge it better than art?''

''Ascent'' marks another monumental work for the foundry, said president Peter S. Homestead, who remembers Leonardo da Vinci's 24-foot bronze horse ''Il Cavallo'' in the exact spot three years ago.

''A lot of John's work has to do with flight, with reflecting the environment around it, which brings a modesty about it,'' Homestead said.

''Ascent'' is fabricated out of stainless steel plate, measuring nine feet across the bottom tapering up to a point. Safer has worked with the foundry since 1974, creating a 15-foot tall sculpture ''Judgment'' for Harvard Law School. He began sculpting on a much smaller scale about 20 years earlier, while working on a research program for an electronics company and involved with real estate.

While abstract sculpture doesn't always reflect specific characteristics of the artist, Safer says his work implies his optimistic view of the world.

''If it says anything, it's that I really believe in life and like people to have better lives and make them enjoy life and each other more,'' Safer said