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| Chas Fagan at work. See more at chasfagan.com |
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I spent the morning at
Chas Fagan's studio. I spent the afternoon wondering if I've been doing it all wrong. Whenever students say "Can I ask you a question?" my standard response is "I have all the answers". We laugh, and they feel comfortable asking me whatever is on their mind. I don't bother telling them that my answers might not be right. I hope they are right....at least for me and them.
Chas Fagan is a Charlotte artist who does big historical commissions around the country. He's working on a large sculpture of Thomas Spratt and King Hagler (Catawba) right now, and I am lucky enough to be on the selection committee. This gives me an opportunity to see his work up close. Chas also completed the bronze sculpture of Captain Jack that sits across the street from my office---it's the sculpture he's working on in the image at top. I can't show any images of the current project, but what we saw today is a maquette, a scale model that, once approved by the group, must be enlarged from the 2 foot maquette to the approximately 7 foot sculpture.
Chas explained the process, which is complicated, but a traditional method of lost-wax casting that has been utilized since the Greek civilization was at its height. He will enlarge the clay maquette to full scale at the foundry, and then the process of bronze casting will begin. Here's a link to describe the
cire perdue process. I've done it before---it's a blast, but it's really tough to describe, and not what I'm interested in.
He has a degree in Russian Studies (now there is a useful degree!), but no real formal training in art. He is a historian and student at heart, though. His studio is filled with research on every historical detail you can imagine regarding his commissions; notes on the topography of the installation site, studies---lots of studies. In the midst of all of this are books on art and artists. He might not have formal training, but he spends a lot of time looking and researching. He mentioned that John Singer Sargent is a particular favorite, and we talked a little about Caravaggio.
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| Bust of Lincoln by Chas Fagan. See more at chasfagan.com |
Throughout the studio were numerous maquettes in various states of completion. There were several Lincoln busts like the one above. There was a maquette of both Bush presidents, together, but still armless, headed to 42's library. There was a maquette of Ronald Reagan in casual wear that Chas said was "a little too thin" and needed to be revised. There were dozens of maquettes, and all were destined for prominent locations. Casually perched on a desk was a painting of
4 First Ladies---Martha Washington, Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan and Michelle Obama commissioned by C-Span. Honestly... I think he's stronger in sculpture. But, that said, three of those portraits are nicely done; one is not his strongest work.
Here's a
link to an interview with C-Span about his sculpture of Ronald Reagan, installed at the Capitol Rotunda.
Chas Fagan and I come from very different art worlds. Working primarily through commissions and large scale public projects, he has to deal with a lot of people along the way. He does it extremely well. While I do commissions at times, I can't imagine dealing with committees and jumping through all the hoops he has to jump through and trying to please all the people he has to please each step of the way. I would go insane. I'm much more content with making images in my own personal little vacuum and then, if someone happens to fall in love with it after the fact, I get so excited I just want to give it to them with a big, red bow on it. Being in his studio made me conscious that not everyone thinks like I do, and perhaps I should qualify my answers just a little bit more.
