Many artists have a sophisticated ideological stance that sees art as part of a gift economy, as a catalyst for social connection. Steven Woolf has recently rediscovered the work of my second cousin, the late Izzy Sher. Sher was an unrepentant Berkeley bohemian who refused to think of himself or the things he made as in any way elevated over his neighbors, as anything but a way to be part of his community. He had dozens of pieces installed in his backyard in a kind of overwhelming garden of junked-up, rusting dreams. When he died in 1999 his wishes were that his works be allowed to melt into the ground.

Finding himself in Berkeley in the 50s (he spent his younger days in Chicago after emigrating from Odessa, Russia in the 20s) Izzy became part of that beat scene that produced so much cultural innovation at the time. He picked up welding skills along the way—perhaps when he and my father worked together as teenagers in a lampshade factory—and opened a shop in Berkeley doing commissions and small wire objects for a living most of his life. With a wife and three children, there was never much money in the house but going the commercial gallery route never appealed to him. He did exhibit work in a few small not-for-profit galleries, but much of his best and most widely seen works were menorahs for synagogues in his region.

Steven Wolf should be complimented for his willingness to pursue this project. The family was ambivalent, wanting to be true to Izzy’s vision, and many colleagues no doubt question Wolf’s sanity in showing such untrendy work. The welded metal objects are slightly larger than human scale and range from the referential (an eye, a figure, a chair) to the almost totally abstract, participating in the artistic conversation of the 50s and 60s about the abject, anti-art, assemblage, improvisation, and use of found and industrial materials. He truly hits his stride with the candelabras, which have a feeling of frozen movement and whimsy that reminds the viewer of such younger Bay Area artists as Mark Bulwinkle and J. Otto. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by Wolf with a large number of color plates and two short essays.

Izzy Sher's work will be on view at Steven Wolf Fine Arts through August 19th.
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