Michael Angelo Magnotta
East Lansing, Michigan
Created in 2014
Steel
Magnotta created Sailfish to bring awareness to the “depletion of sport fish world wide; [and to] memorialize this beautiful creature and allow it to sail, always, in our vision.”
The piece is made of plasma-cut steel. Each scale is attached to the body individually; afterwards, the piece is cleaned, ground, and polished.
Magnotta has pieces in public art displays in Vandalia, Ohio; Valparaiso, Indiana; Hastings, Michigan and in the “Pure Michigan” building in downtown Lansing.
"My journey in the arts began some 30 years ago in photography - B&W, Kodachrome, 35 mm, 3x5 format, SX 70, etc. I loved the medium but wanted more texture, size, and input. Architectural studies in the New School of San Diego broadened my artistic horizons - materials, space, shape, form, design, construction. The imaginative use of these constructs, as exemplified by architects I admired, inspired me. The Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, beauty in the imperfect, the worn, informed me. In what felt like a natural progression, an outgrowth of interests and skills, I began welding in 2008. Long infatuated by this process, the first glimpse through the lens of a welder’s helmet of metal fusing together brought a thrill unsurpassed.
"My sculptures begin with a visit to the metal yard. From rusting piles of industrial detritus I carefully cull the shapes and forms which speak to me, giving those chosen a respite in my studio, where, slowly, those shapes are reborn, bringing new life to old iron.”
Magnotta is married and has three daughters and four grandchildren. He received a B.A. at Michigan State University and an M.A. at University of Detroit; studied architecture at New School of Architecture in San Diego; welding at Lansing Community College. He loves to travel, read, listen to jazz, play tennis, cook, create...
Please visit his website at www.magnottametalart.com.
Approximate dimensions:
8' high, 5’ wide, 10” deep
400 pounds
$5000
For further information about the purchase of this sculpture, please contact us.