Larry Kagan Shadow & Light

The word unbelievable  immediately comes to mind when describing Larry Kagan’s sculptures.

No matter how much you may have heard or read about the artist’s Object/Shadow exhibit currently on display at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, there’s a sense of wonder when you see the work for the first time.  

While Kagan’s 16 abstract steel sculptures mounted on the walls of the museum’s Titelman Gallery have an intrinsic beauty all their own, it’s when special lighting shines on them, casting shadows of recognizable images, that the magic happens. What appear to be random tangles of steel becomes a basketball point guard dribbling down court, a couple embracing a giant heart and Che Guevera flashing his trademark scowl. One is tempted to peer around and under the metal configurations to see if there’s a tiny projector hidden somewhere. Surely there’s slight of hand at foot here.

There isn’t. And that begs the question: how does Kagan do it? How does he take various lengths of steel rods, twist, turn and weld them together to create a dual image art form?