Frank's Ark

A local artist's brood of beasts breathes new life into his oeuvre.

by J.F. Pirro

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Published: Feb 9, 2011

[ visual art ]

If necessity is the mother of invention, then artists are often the mothers of reinvention. It's a good thing, too — for their own self-prophecy and sense of fulfillment, for an ever-capricious market and for audiences, too

Kensington native and Bucks County artist Frank Grobelny figures he's reinvented himself five times, but he's finally found himself in the process. It's a refreshing notion.

After graduating from the University of the Arts in 1963 as an illustration major, he eventually embarked on a freelance career that included a 20-year stint with Strawbridge & Clothier as its men's fashion and accessories illustrator. Then, by the mid-'80s, fashion illustration went by the wayside. Photography took over. So did the computer. The garment industry, once king in Philadelphia, went overseas. People weren't dressing well anymore. "They were going to funerals in shorts and sandals," Grobelny says.

Later, as the family provider, he painted satellites in orbit for General Electric, and depicted family and doctor office interactions for pharmaceutical companies launching new drugs. But commercial art was taking a hit — and so was Grobelny. After 9/11, all art budgets were cut back. He lost clients. The economy went sour. "Commercially, I was dead," he says.

Then, he renewed an old passion. Grobelny always had an interest in basic metals, mostly copper and brass, and in animal figures. So while caring for his 98-year-old mother (who's now in a facility), he sensed his own advancing age — he'll turn 70 on St. Patrick's Day — and began reinventing himself.

He's calling his latest metalwork "interpretive sculpture." Animals — there's a rhino, a humpback whale, an impala (his favorite), a walrus, a dozen or so in all — are crafted in copper and brass plate, then brazed and soldered. For color, he plates some in nickel. All incorporate wire. He's taken a traditional form and given it contemporary flair.

Grobelny's animals have the linear quality of his fashion illustrations, but they're translated into sculpture that depicts incredibly sleek statures. Each piece has magnetism and grace. He's exaggerated a pose in each piece that demonstrates the raw and beautiful motion of each animal.

Since he's never been a fine artist, Grobelny sheepishly calls himself a fish out of water. But that makes him fresh and keeps him humble. His curiosity, experimentation and hunger keep him as stunningly sharp as the animals he creates.

In the past six months, his sculpture has begun emerging at shows. Last fall, his rhino won third place for Best in Show in Trenton, N.J., at Artworks' "Made in Metal" juried show. He had work accepted at the 81st Phillips' Mill Art Exhibition in New Hope.

Through Feb. 19, Grobelny has two sculptures — a red kangaroo and an ostrich — in the Montgomery County Guild of Professional Artists' spring show in Conshohocken, where the latter has won a third-place award.

With a horse he's readying for market, he's experimenting with patina. "I want to make it look like old treasured art," he says. "I'll get the green with the copper, and I used a pickle jar to mold a piece of concrete for its base. It looks like it's been underwater for 2,000 years."

He traces his fascination with animals to an art school metals class and weekly anatomy class visits to the Philadelphia Zoo. He filled a sketchbook each visit.

"I like to watch them run," Grobelny says. "I like to study their habitat. I was always one for those nature shows — and it's weird because I'm allergic to animals."

But he hadn't worked with metals since art school — other than an occasional sweating copper pipe in his home — though he admits to sculpting a copper nude in the '70s.

"People have to do what they're born to do," Grobelny says. "This is what I've always wanted to do. I want to fill galleries in hopes that others can see what I see — the movement, the beauty. No one is doing sculptures like these, sculptures that express the animal."

In the process, he's found his inner artist.

(editorial@citypaper.net)

"The World of Professional Artists #5," through Feb. 19, Montgomery County Guild of Professional Artists, Routes 202 and 320, Conshohocken, 610-292-6048, mcgopa.org.

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