Tools As Art: The Hechinger Collection

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Fred Nagelbach, Untitled, from "Turm" series, 1987
corrugated galvanized tin and painted cedar shakes
93 x 15 in

Fred Nagelbach was born in Liebling, Banat, Romania, in 1943. He earned a B.A. from Valparaiso University, Indiana, in 1965 and an M.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, in 1967 before continuing his studies at the Akademie der Bildende Kunste in Munich, Germany. His work has been shown in Chicago and New York. Combining the lyricism of English sculptor David Nash and the direct carving technique of Constatin Brancusi, Nagelbach creates dreamed architecture and tool sculptures that transport the viewer to a different time and place. His materials are a mixture of traditional roofing materials and bronze, foam rubber, and polyester resin. The decorative cupolas of his towers can be read as primitive guardians or as giant tools that might cut a mortise in the sky. His mallet sculptures are large-scale interpretations of ancient and contemporary implements of construction.