Some of artist/sculptor Ed Massey’s representative works are on exhibit in the lobby of Casa del Mar in Santa Monica through August 31. The Pacific Palisades resident and his brother, Bernie, were featured in a June 10 Palisadian-Post Lifestyle article titled ‘Summer of Color Splashes the Beach.’ The story highlighted their work with Project of Hope that culminated in the colorful panels on lifeguard towers in Los Angeles County. At the Casa del Mar show, the individual talents of Ed Massey, who received his master’s degree in fine art from Columbia University, are striking. A wedding dress sculpture, which his wife Dawn actually wore, is one of the most amazing costume/sculpture pieces on display. There are 10,060 handcrafted roses made of modeling paste on cloth, with acrylic paint put on a steel-framed skirt. This monumental piece defies adequate description and is difficult to photograph because of its three-dimensionality. In fact, most of Massey’s pieces, so textural and colorful, need to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. Team USA, a wall hanging in which a white shirt, painted with acrylic, seemingly floats in a sea of 10,000 blue/white USA clothing tags, is such a piece. The sculpted figures on the 30 x 12 x 12 inches piece, ‘Corporate Ladders,’ are compelling and lifelike. The work, deceivingly whimsical, provocatively comments on corporate hierarchy, including issues of gender, ethics, competition and disparity in the workplace. Interestingly enough, the sculpture is a smaller version of an actual 19-foot high sculpture that was placed in the lobby of the Principal Financial Group building outside Washington, D.C. in 1990. It aroused such controversy it was pulled down four months later. Casa del Mar is located at 1910 Ocean Way. Call (310) 581-5533.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
