Woodstock’s 2002 Centennial Celebration Guitar Sculptures
Online Auction Results
Auction Event Summary
Online Auction FAQ
Artist and Sculpture Profiles
Peter Benzing • Rennie Cantine • Adrian Guillery • Steve Heller • Michael Hunt • Melissa Palmatier • Barry Price • Pierre Riche • Jeffrey Schiller • Gideon Stein • James Weber
Eight of the ten sculptures met their minimums or reserves, and sold in a range from $575 to $8,675. Three of those eight remained in the town of Woodstock. One went to Margaretville, NY; another to Alabama; a sixth one to Maryland; and the final two to California.
More About Woodstock’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Scene
- Paul Smart’s book, Rock & Woodstock, chronicles
Woodstock’s rock ’n’ roll era from the 1960’s
into the 1990’s. Its index runs from ABBA to ZZ Top.
- Paul McMahon, Woodstock’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Therapist.
Recent article on Woodstock’s Centennial Celebration
- Woodstock: Town in upstate New York marks a century of arts and oddballs, USA Today, July 9, 2002
Woodstock’s Guitar Sculptures at Auction
In 2002 the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce & Arts put out a call for guitar sculptures via competitive entry as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of Woodstock as a colony of the arts. The ten winning sculptures were unveiled in May of 2002, and positioned at various locations throughout the village of Woodstock. They were hugely popular with visitors and residents alike, and were featured by Sotheby’s/eBay in an online special auction of rock ‘n’ roll collectibles and Beatles memorabilia that took place October 31 though November 10, 2002 (Sotheby's/eBay Rock ‘n’ Roll Special Auction).
Woodstock honored the artists and the sculptures in a live auction event at the Woodstock Guild’s Kleinert/James Arts Center, 34 Tinker Street, on Saturday, November 2, 2002, at 7 p.m. The highest bids were posted online at Sotheby’s/eBay. Eight of the ten sculptures sold, at excellent prices, to buyers all over the United States.
“This show is about the evolution of North American Art….
Art is healing to the observer, and these sculptures have struck
a resonant chord with the public. These are positive, happy images
in a dark and unsure time in history, and that is part of the
reason why they are having an impact. Woodstock symbolizes the
ideals of peace and love, and in these times people are looking
back to the things that represent what was and what still is
good about our country, to reassure themselves that we are strong
and everything is going to be all right. These original public
artworks are a testament to the creative human spirit and its
will to survive.”
—Gideon Stein, guitar sculpture
artist
Online Auction FAQ (Sotheby’s/eBay)
1. How do I register to bid on the
guitars?
Link to Sotheby’s and then click “online auctions” in
the masthead opposite the Sotheby’s name. That will take
you to a Sothebys.com page; click “sign in” on the
navigation bar at top far right. On the “Sign In” page,
click the gray “Register” button at left under “New
to eBay?” Then just fill in the online form, creating an
eBay user ID and password as you go. You’ll need a credit
card to complete the process. If you’re already registered
with eBay, there’s no need to create a separate Sotheby’s
online identity.
2. Where are the guitars listed online?
The ten guitar sculptures are part of a special online
consignment of “The Legends of Rock” collectibles.
The online auction will be held Thursday, October 31 to Sunday,
November 10, 2002. Link to Sotheby’s and then to “The
Legends of Rock” under “online special auctions” on
the bottom left. That will take you to a page where the “2002
Woodstock Guitar Sculptures” will be listed. Alternately,
you can place a search on "Woodstock Guitars" from
anywhere on the Sotheby's/eBay site.
3. How can I bid online?
Once the auction has begun (10/31/02), follow the procedure outlined
in Question 2. above—and then click on “2002 Woodstock
Guitar Sculptures” or simply, “view all lots.” The
ten guitar sculptures will be listed there. Click on a sculpture
listing, and then on the gray box in the upper right hand corner, “bid
now.” Sotheby’s/eBay advises the following steps:
a. Register (see Question 1 above). b. Learn about the seller
(in this instance, the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce and Arts—WCOCA)
c. Know the details (study the information provided for each
sculpture) and d. If you have questions, contact the seller
(WCOCA). All this is easily accomplished by clicking buttons
and links provided on the bidding pages by Sotheby’s/eBay.
4. What is a maximum or “proxy” bid?
When bidding, you may enter a maximum amount that you’re
willing to pay for the sculpture. The Sotheby’s/eBay computer
will repeatedly bid on your behalf, by pre-set “bid increments” up
to your maximum bid, which is kept secret from other Sotheby’s/eBay
users. The term for this is proxy bidding.
5. How can I make sure I win my favorite
sculpture?
Unfortunately there are no guarantees, but a good strategy
is to place an aggressive maximum bid, and to diligently follow
the online bidding the final day (Sunday, November 10).
Peter Benzing • Rennie Cantine • Adrian Guillery • Steve Heller • Michael Hunt • Melissa Palmatier • Barry Price • Pierre Riche • Jeffrey Schiller • Gideon Stein • James Weber
Eight of the 11 guitar sculpture artists gathered in August,
2002. Pictured above, they are (front row from left) Adrian
Guillery, James Weber, Gideon Stein and Pierre Riche. Back
row from left, Jeffrey Schiller, Melissa Palmatier, Michael
Hunt and Steve Heller.
Title: Steel Guitar
Artist: Peter Benzing,
845-246-1188, peter@benzingdesigns.com, www.benzingdesigns.com
Pre-Sale Estimate: $4,500 to
$6,500
Minimum Bid: $300
Reserve Price: Yes
Measurements: 72”high
x 16”wide x 8”deep
Weight: 500 lbs. (estimated) Optional:
bluestone slab at an extra 100 lbs.
Materials Used: ¼” sheet
steel, angle iron, maple wood
Inspiration: “The sculpture
is a gesture, expressing the physical elements of the guitar—a
'deconstruction' of the guitar, reminiscent of Picasso’s
paper collages from 1912 to 1914 i.e. Guitar and Bottle of Bass
(1913). The sculpture does not reveal itself immediately. It
forces the viewer’s imagination to fit the pieces of the
puzzle together, creating a fictional image of the guitar hidden
beneath the layers of materials. The sculpture’s immediate
visual image is strong, but its true identity is subtle. I work
from nothing more than a thumbnail sketch. I allow the materials
and my environment to dictate the artistic direction of the piece.
It is a creative journey full of twists and turns, a ‘destination
unknown’ even to me!” Born in 1964 in Columbus, Ohio,
the artist has a BFA in gold and silversmithing from SUNY New
Paltz, NY.
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Rennie
Cantine
Title: Got Moosic?
Artist: Rennie Cantine,
845-679-0759
Pre-Sale Estimate: $1,500 to
$2,500
Minimum Bid: $500
Reserve Price: None
Measurements: 8’high
x 3½’wide x 3” deep
Weight: 120 lbs. (estimated)
Materials Used: Wood, rusty
farm parts, paint
Inspiration: “A gesture
of friendship to New York City.” Cantine’s piece
is a humorous nod to the famous cow sculpture collections of
New York City and Chicago. The artist was born in Kingston, NY,
1959, and studied environmental design and architecture at the
University of California in Santa Cruz. During the summer of
2002, he hosted a “guitar festival” tribute to Woodstock’s
100 years as a colony of the arts, in which dozens of established
and aspiring guitarists participated.
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Adrian
Guillery
Title: Guitar Harmony
Artist: Adrian Guillery,
845-688-7639, cgtwin@aol.com
Pre-Sale Estimate: $3,000 to
$5,000
Minimum Bid: $100
Reserve Price: Yes
Measurements: 6’high
x 4’wide x 5” deep (base 36” long by 27” wide)
Weight: 75 lbs. (estimated)
Materials Used: Acrylic on
wood
Inspiration: “Why I created
this particular sculpture…my wild enthusiasm for the guitar!” Born
on Long Island, NY in 1940, the artist studied at SUNY in New
Paltz, NY. A composer and visual artist, Guillery has performed
opposite Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa
and The Grateful Dead. He has played on albums by John Hammond
and Richie Havens. Other gigs include shows at the Whitney Museum,
MOMA, and the Huntington Hartford Museum.
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Steve
Heller
Title: Stratocruiser
Artist: Steve Heller, 845-657-6317
(Martha), fabfurn1@aol.com, www.fabulousfurnitureon28.com
Pre-Sale Estimate: $12,000
to $15,000
Minimum Bid: $750
Reserve Price: Yes
Measurements: 8’high
x 3’wide x 36” deep at base
Weight: 200 lbs. (estimated)
Materials Used: 1953 Pontiac
Starchief, assorted car parts
Inspiration: “When invited
to propose a guitar sculpture, it was only natural that I would
turn to my collection of rusted 50’s cars that I’ve
saved from the junkyard and the evil crusher. Half buried in
the mud, a rotting 1953 Pontiac Starchief called out to me—the
combination of its rounded fenders and the quarter-panel bulge
was the perfect starting point for my Stratocruiser. After cutting
the car totally apart, we started reshaping the metal into the
form of a guitar, incorporating not only the ’53 Pontiac,
but two ’65 Buick front fenders (the neck); a 1988 Dodge
Minivan roof (the back); and three Harley Davidson taillight
bezels (the fret-board). To bring this car back to life as a
guitar was music to my heart. Talk about the ultimate fender
guitar!” (A 38-page photo album showing the construction
of the Stratocruiser comes with the sculpture.) The legendary
Fender Stratocaster is one of the most widely heard and immediately
recognizable of electric guitars, etched into the collective
consciousness by Jimi Hendrix and other greats. Born in 1945
New York City, Heller has a BS from Queens College and is a self-taught
artist. He owns/operates Fabulous Furniture in Woodstock, where
his work is displayed.
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Michael
Hunt
Title: Heavenly Beatles
Artist: Michael Hunt,
845-688-5515, nycbandit@hotmail.com
Pre-Sale Estimate: $1,800 to
$3,000
Minimum Bid: $150
Reserve Price: Yes
Measurements: 96”high
x 36”wide x 10” deep
Weight: 150 lbs. (estimated)
Materials Used: Base (Vox Amp)—concrete,
plywood, foam and stainless steel. Rickenbacker guitar—Spanish
cedar, latex paint and stainless steel. Guitar strings—17
gauge galvanized electric fence wire.
Inspiration: “A tribute
to John Lennon and George Harrison, the late great Beatles guitarists,
for all they’ve given to the world.” Michael Hunt
was conceived at the Woodstock Festival in Bethel, NY and born
in Honesdale, PA in 1970. His work, known as Cosmic American
Art, is a generous mix of pop, folk and history. “The Beatles
take the notion of the generation gap and smash it right to bits.
They will be listened to forever. I just wanted to honor the
two [Beatles] guitarists for all they’ve given the universe,
and how they were always choosing love over fear. The piece sort
of evolved into a very realistic version of their equipment…Vox…Rickenbacker.
It’s all very familiar and really works as a tribute. There’re
so many statues honoring generals and politicians—here’s
a memorial of a different kind, honoring the things that make
us want to live in the first place.”
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Melissa
Palmatier
Title: Leonora
Artist: Melissa Palmatier,
845-679-5808, melizarine6@hotmail.com
Pre-Sale Estimate: $1,500 to
$2,000
Minimum Bid: $500
Reserve Price: None
Measurements: 6’high
x 2’wide x 1’deep
Weight: 50 lbs. (estimated)
Materials Used: Plaster, wooden “Ibanez” bass
neck, canvas high tops, tulle, acrylic paint, newspaper, twine,
wire
Inspiration: “Leonora
embodies the joy that music makes us feel. I have seen the visual
arts make people weep, but it is only music that has the power
to move a roomful of people into dancing. The word ‘music’ stems
from the Greek word for Muse (Music: the art of the Muses). The
title for my piece was inspired by the painter, Leonora Carrington
(a surrealist by association), whose imagery was based largely
in the subconscious and the symbols of a personal mythology.
Carrington possessed a spirit of vivid imagination and rebelled
against the idea of the woman artist as muse for the painterly
patriarch.” Born in 1977, the artist has a BS in art education
from SUNY at New Paltz, NY. She lives in Bearsville, NY and has
exhibited her work at numerous galleries in the Hudson Valley.
Using art as meditation, she begins by tapping into the pulse
of imagery from the far reaches of her dreams and trance-like
intuitions.
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Barry
Price
Title: Guitar Form
Artist: Barry Price, 845-679-3282, bparch@ulster.net, www.barryprice.com
Pre-Sale Estimate: $2,000 to
$3,000
Minimum Bid: $100
Reserve Price: Yes
Measurements: 89”high
(+base) x 20”wide x 7”deep
Weight: 250 lbs. (estimated)
Materials Used: ¼” thick
Corten steel plate, poured concrete base
Inspiration: “The guitar
is as much a cultural icon as it is a musical instrument. It
evokes imagery ranging from cubist paintings to pop phenomena.
My sculpture seeks to test the limits of this legibility by reducing
the form of the guitar to its essence. A vertical rectangular
steel plate frame is deformed by the curvature of the instrument’s
profile, leaving the completion of the image to the imagination
of the viewer. Born in Newark, NJ in 1962, the artist has a BA
from Lehigh University and an M. Arch. from Harvard GSD. He is
a licensed and practicing architect specializing in residential
commissions, and is an art instructor at Vassar College.
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Pierre
Riche
Title: Melting Strat
Artist: Pierre Riche,
845-679-5930, richeart@juno.com, www.richeart.com
Pre-Sale Estimate: $2,000 to
$4,000
Minimum Bid: $100
Reserve Price: Yes
Measurements: 96”high
x 54”wide by 18”deep
Weight: 100 lbs.
Material Used: Aluminum
Inspiration: “Wake up
and smell the global java and realize that we as human inhabitants
of this planet are currently seeing world chaos. Welcome to the ‘meltdown
era,’ a time when forms as we thought we knew them are
in a state of rapid transformation. This sculpture is a way for
people to absorb and experience the full scope of the cultural
meltdown. Hopefully it may serve to remind the viewer that life
is a celebration, a continual rejuvenating melody that must not
be lost. ‘Melting Strat’ was inspired by the political,
economic, environmental and cultural meltdown that is taking
place in the world today—and by the malleable nature of
reality and the possibilities people can create for their lives.” The
artist was born in New York City, 1966, and has studied at the
Chicago Art Institute and The Arts Students League, NYC. He has
exhibited in New York City, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Boston.
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Jeffrey
Schiller &
James Weber
Title: Muse with Strings
Artists: Jeffrey Schiller (845-246-6209)
and
James Weber
(845-246-3839)
Pre-Sale Estimate: $4,500 to
$6,000
Minimum Bid: $500
Reserve Price: Yes
Measurements: 96”high
x 34”wide x 32” deep
Weight: 200 lbs. (estimated)
Materials Used: Welded steel
with bluestone base
Inspiration: In conceiving this piece the artists were “inspired
by ancient matriarchal societies, which considered the stringed
instrument sacred to the Great Mother. It was felt that music
encouraged cosmic awareness—that is, a sense of humanity’s
place in the universe. Early stringed instruments were turtle
or tortoise shells with three strings stretched over the hollow
underside. This form, by its very nature, also symbolized the
universe.”
Jeffrey Schiller was born in Brooklyn in 1945 and has a BFA from
Pratt Institute.
Born in 1949 in Scarsdale, NY, James Weber also has a BFA from
Pratt. Both artists have considerable industrial experience with
welding and fabrication, and have shown their work extensively
in New York City and in the Hudson Valley.
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Gideon
Stein
Title: Guitar Sculpture
Artist: Gideon Stein,
845-679-1176, gideonstein@mail.com,
www.gideonsteinarts.com
Pre-Sale Estimate: $5,000 to
$10,000
Minimum Bid: $100
Reserve Price: Yes
Measurements: 4’high
x 10’ wide x 3 ¾”deep
Weight: 250 lbs. (estimated)
Materials Used: Waterborne
acrylic varnish on exterior grade plywood
Inspiration: “People
tell me that they see the [Charles Schulz] Woodstock character
in the headstock of my piece. Bernard Rosenthal’s Alamo,
the large cube sculpture in Manhattan’s Astor Place, was
the inspiration for it revolving.” Countless visitors to
Woodstock have taken their pictures through this sculpture, framing
their faces in its sound hole. “I wanted my piece to be
interactive and something that would bring people together. To
have fine art accessible to the public…is a huge step
towards re-introducing art to America…in a time when cultural
renewal is needed.” Born in New York City in 1970, the
artist studied at Dalton, The New School and Hunter College.
Exhibitions include the Salmagundi Club in NYC and the Core Gallery
in New Paltz, NY.
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