Robert Spies, sculptor and printmaker, is The Featured Artist for August at the Artists’ Co-op of Mendocino.
His show “femmes et bêtes” includes new 2D and 3D works. Spies is a primarily self-taught artist and a member of the Co-op for 2 years. He has exhibited in northern California and Oregon since moving to the Mendocino Coast in 2002. Bob’s interest in art was piqued by making illustrations in his zoological studies, but blossomed into making abstract figurative wood sculpture in the 1970s, and then branching into clay, plaster, aluminum, and bronze. He also has been making prints for the last 15 years, mainly monotypes and etchings. His latest work, now in the gallery, includes constructed wood sculptures, collage, acrylic paintings, and prints.
Bob’s original and continuing sources of inspiration are tribal art, cubists and other modernists. “I am engaged by our place in the natural world, other humans and the joys and sorrows of our lives.  There is a dark undercurrent of ecological and political angst that increasingly surfaces in my work. The Mendocino Coast mostly feels like a refuge that is being transformed by external forces. The visual arts give voice to that change in an immediate way.”

In addition to involvement in various local artist groups Bob co-hosts a monthly radio program, “The Ecology Hour” on KZYX, Mendocino County Public Radio, drawing on his career in marine biology.

His artworks will be featured from August 3rd until September 5th in this gallery, which is open daily from 11am to 4pm; phone (707) 937-2217.  If you want to extend your visit, you can find our art online at www.artcoopmendocino.com

Additional art by Bob can be seen on his Co-op website Artist’s page as well as his independent website: Bobspies.com.