Pinewood Decal #5
Artist
Robert Sestok
(American, born 1946)
Date1977
MediumCardboard, fabric, masonite, metals, paint, paper, polyester resin
Dimensions53 × 46 × 1 1/2 in. (134.6 × 116.8 × 3.8 cm)
ClassificationsPainting / Collage
Credit LineGift of John D. Hilberry, 2015.
Object numberUAC6446
DescriptionRobert Sestok uses found materials, crafting meaningful order out of discarded chaos in the patterned composition that is “Pinewood Decal #5”. Reminiscent of a geometrically choreographed city scape, seen from an aerial perspective, Sestok’s piece boasts a sort of haphazard attempt at gridlike precision. Juxtaposing this allusion to order, “Pinewood Decal # 5” also possesses a rough, varieying tactile quality inherently bestowed upon the discarded items Sestok uses to create the piece. This playful tension between order and disarray, allusion and abstraction, and even construction and destruction can be read into the work with it’s use of color and lively, unexpected miscellany of materials. Discussing this piece, Sestok states, “I remembered old bikes tires that I had patched and how the patches would appear on the inner tube of the tire.” This quote further enforces the visual thesis of this work, highlighting the artist’s penchant for reusing materials others might discard, breathing new life into forgotten objects, and finding a visual interest in the juxtaposition of the new and orderly against the old and seemingly arbitrary. Michigan born artist, Robert Sestok “seeks to achieve the realization of his subconscious and creative thoughts” through his eclectic collection of works, meandering through a myriad of mediums along his creative journey. Born in 1946 in Detroit, Sestok spent much of his youth in Birmingham, Michigan, returning to Detroit in 1967 to attend the College for Creative Studies, obtaining a degree in ceramics in 1969. Sestok has furthered his artistic studies attending Cranbrook Academy of Art as well as the Pilchuck Summer Glass Blowing Workshop in Stanwood, Washington. His work has been exhibited across the United States, predominantly in Michigan, and abroad since the 1960s and is housed in many private collections nationally. James F. Duffy Jr., beloved Detroit art collector gathered many great Sestok pieces over the later decades of the 20th century, subsequently donating much of the works to the Wayne State University Art Collection. Visitors of Detroit can explore Robert Sestok’s sculpture dreamscape garden, City Sculpture, a public art park “dedicated to exposing the public to experimental sculpture work in Detroit”, featuring not only his sculptural concoctions, but rotating works by other invited artists.
Written by Kat Goffnett
Collections
