Tom Otterness - Multiply

Over the past two decades, American sculptor Tom Otterness has created numerous works designed for public spaces throughout the United States and internationally in The Netherlands, Germany, and Korea. Featuring cartoon influences, his works combine a childlike sense of play with adult sensibilities and recognition of larger political issues.

A native of Wichita, Kansas, Mr. Otterness came to New York City in the early 1970s, studying at The Art Students League of New York and participating in the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program. He was integrally involved in the artists’ collective Collaborative Projects, Inc. (a.k.a.Colab). As part of that group, he contributed to the 1980 The Times Square Show featuring the multimedia work of a number of noteworthy artists including Jenny Holzer, Charlie and John Ahearn, Kiki Smith, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Gaining recognition for his sculpture, work by Tom Otterness was featured at a number of high profile exhibitions, including the Nouvelle Biennale de Paris and the 1985 Whitney Biennial. He was subsequently commissioned by the U.S. General Services Administration to produce a large-scale sculpture for an outdoor plaza at the Los Angeles Edward R. Roybal Federal Building. The work was completed in 1991 and led to several other courthouse commissions for the General Services Administration in Oregon, California, and Minnesota. Mr. Otterness simultaneously worked on a large-scale park installation commissioned by the Battery Park City Authority in New York. Since the completion of that work in 1992, he has finished more than a dozen public sculptures throughout the city, in diverse locations such as Roosevelt Island, MetroTech Center in Brooklyn, and the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx.

Works by Tom Otterness were featured in a number of one-person exhibitions over the years, most recently the Marlborough Gallery’s 2011 show “Animal Spirits” Recognizing the unique connection people of all ages feel to his art, Tom Otterness offers a blank coloring book for download at the website tomotterness.net.