Todd Reuben is a graduate of Columbia University, New York City, where, in 1980, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. Following completion of his university studies, he pursued studies in metal welding and sculpture under the tutelage of Professor Roy Gussow, a renowned sculptor in stainless steel. He served as a teaching assistant in the art department at Columbia University and as an apprentice to Professor Roy Gussow.
In 1989, after six and a half years of apprenticeship with Professor Gussow, during which he learned the skills and techniques of shaping, welding, and refining stainless steel, Mr. Reuben initiated his own professional development, parting from the forms created by Gussow and developing his own unique forms and concepts.
The preferred medium of Todd Reuben for his sculptures is stainless steel. Like gold, stainless steel is immutable; it does not tarnish or rust, retaining its quality forever.
When refined and polished to a high luster, the reflective quality of its surfaces endows the sculpture with fluidity and liveliness, thereby enhancing and accentuating the flow of the piece.
Mr. Reuben's aim in his sculptures is to achieve grace, elegance, and a harmonious relationship and proportion of all elements when viewed from any angle. He does not seek to convey any message, nor do the creations symbolize or represent any object or ideas. (This is reflected in the naming of the sculptures by number so as to avoid suggesting any representation.)
In 1992, Todd Reuben moved his studio/shop from New Jersey to Woodstock, Vermont, and his sculptures are presently being displayed by Gallery North Star, Grafton, Vermont, Studio 47, Woodstock, Vermont, The Mico Gallery, Port Charlotte, Florida, and the Simon Gallery, Morristown, New Jersey.
Technical details of Todd Reuben's stainless steel sculptures are summarized for interested persons. A flat sheet of stainless steel (11 gauge, 1/8 inch in thickness) is employed, from which the pattern, as conceived by the artist, is cut from the stainless steel sheet using a "plasma cutter" (which literally vaporizes the metal where it is directed).
The planes are shaped by "cold hammering" (except when the plane is difficult and complex, heat must be restored to) into the form and the planes welded together by an arc welder using stainless steel electrodes. Then follows a lengthy and arduous process of refinement, involving removal of the weld beads by grinding, followed by twelve sequential steps using successively finer and finer grits of sandpaper.
The final polishing step is accomplished with a felt pad to which chromium oxide has been applied, resulting in a high luster and reflectivity, reflecting the elements of the sculpture itself as well as those of the external surroundings, thereby bringing the sculpture to life.
The endeavor to create, I believe, is the most rewarding pursuit one can undertake. Sculpting is a very challenging art form, for it deals with three dimensions, the world in which we live. To make a piece work aesthetically from every angle from which it is viewed is a significant part of this challenge.
I have chosen free form sculpting over representative or figurative sculpture because that which heightens the excitement for me is discovering and articulating a form that has never before existed; to bring something into the world that has never before been seen or experienced. It must be different and unique; this is not to be confused with novelty.
Far too often, the novelty in the art world is seen as sufficient justification for various artistic expressions. The creation must reach far beyond this level; it should offer something deep and significant that moves the viewer in a way that never diminishes with time. The qualities of beauty, grace, elegance, and a harmonious relationship between all the elements are what I attempt to achieve in all my sculptures.
B.A. Columbia University, New York, New York