Artist's Statement
 

“My work always begins with the human figure. I create these figures, often stylized or abstracted, in the hope that through movement, kinetic tension, the exaggeration of form, or the sheer beauty of line, some thoughtful and heartfelt aspect of human experience will be revealed. For me, the most moving of all sculptural forms are those that capture the psychological ambiguities, conflicts, emotions, and hidden meanings of everyday life.

Some of the galleries have more specialized themes:

 The Transported series of sculptures is an attempt to capture those rare moments of life, moments when we have an extraordinary experience of some greater meaning or understanding. Art, love, children, nature, drugs, sex, meditation, purposeful work, and ecstatic dance are just some of the things that can induce such transcendent states. This series of playful, stylized sculptures attempts to portray the spirit of these moments.

 The Secret Obsessions gallery consists of six bronze sculptures in which I play with the concepts of persona, shame, loss, and exposure. The images emerged quite spontaneously but in making these forms, I then tried to capture a distorted, sometimes humorous, but always faithful depiction of human character and experience; as in a dream when someone appears strange but recognizable, usually because some essence or private obsession is exposed. There is no doubt that working with people for three decades as a clinical psychologist has influenced these images and ideas.

 The Anatomy of Melancholy series consists of eleven pieces that portray the reflective nature of this familiar bittersweet experience. They start with the figurative, become more stylized in nature, and finally evolve into more abstract forms.

 The Theme and Variation series takes the evolution idea a step further by having the evolution of form take place in the same sculpture, including playing with sculptural images from Picasso, Matisse, Brancusi, Giacometti, Botero, Maillol, and others. 

 In making all of these sculpted forms, my desire is to arouse something visceral; to comfort, to induce a chuckle, to invite reflection, and on occasion, to startle, to make the hairs stand up on your neck.”

Biography

Bob Cantor has been a clinical psychologist in San Francisco for many years. He was an Associate Professor on the full-time faculty of the University of California, San Francisco for ten years and has been in private practice for over thirty years. He has also published two books: "And A Time To Live" (1980, Harper and Row, nominated and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize) and a novel, "Of Struggle and Flight" (1990, Little Viking).

Art and sculpture have been a life long passion. He has studied with Alan Kaprow (Rutgers University), Mogens Moller (Royal College of Copenhagen), Jesus Mendes (Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende), and Jack Kreutzer (Loveland, Colorado).

At present, his work is on permanent display at the ACCI Gallery in Berkeley, California, the Zeta Gallery in Lafayette, California, and the Thousand Oaks Gallery, Albany, California. His prize-winning sculpture has been collected throughout the United Satates; featured in the 2005 Spring issue of "Direct Art Magazine", and awarded a coveted place in 2006's "Best Artists of California".


Resumè

May 1999 Artisans Gallery
Mill Valley, California
Featured Artist

August 2001 Artisans Gallery
Mill Valley, California
Merit Award, Juried Group Show

September 2001 Artisans Gallery
Mill Valley, California
Sculpture Prize, National Juried Exhibit

January 2003 Artisans Gallery
Mill Valley, California
Featured Artist, Humor and Art Show

May 2003 Rebecca Bruce L'Atelier
Mill Valley, California
Solo Exhibit

September 2003 Artisans Gallery
Mill Valley, California
Merit Award, National Juried Exhibit

October 2003 Alameda Art Center
Alameda, California
Merit Award, Juried Show

August 2004 Alameda Art Center
Alameda, California
Group Show

June 2004 142 Throckmorton Theater
Mill Valley, California
Two Person Exhibit

August 2004 Alameda Art Center
Alameda, California
Featured Artist, Juried Show

October 2004 Artisans Gallery
Mill Valley, California
Group Show

December 2004 di Rossa Preserve Gallery
Napa, California
Juried Exhibit

January 2005 Alameda Art Center Alameda, Group Show

Spring 2005 Direct Art Magazine, Vol. 11
Slow Art, New York, New York
Half Page Award, National Juried Competition

February 2005 Alameda Art Center
Alameda, California
Group Juried Show

June 2005 Artisans Gallery
San Rafael, California
Group Sculpture Show

December 2005 ACCI Gallery
Berkeley, California
Christmas Show

February 2006 Artisans Gallery
San Rafeal, California
Juried Show

May 2006 ACCI Gallery
Berkeley, California
Featured Artist

Fall 2006 Best Artists of California
featured artist, sculpture

March 2007 ACCI Gallery
"SOMEBODY"
Berkeley, California
Featured Artist

March 2008 ACCI Gallery
"In The Round"
Berkeley, California
Featured Artist

October, 2008 Zeta Gallery
Lafayette, California
Featured Artist

February 2009 ACCI Gallery
Mixed Media Exhibit
Berkeley, California
Featured Artist

March 2009 Plaza Arts Gallery
"Chiselers" Sculpture Show
Healdsburg, California
Merit Award for "Body of Work"

March 2010 ACCI Gallery
"Swagger: A Celebration of the Body"
Berkeley, California
Featured Artist

June 2015 ACCI Gallery
Berkeley, California


Shows

December 2015 and January 2016

Desta Gallery

San Anselmo, California

Featured Artist

Galleries

ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, California

Desta Gallery, San Anselmo, California

Zeta Gallery, Lafayette, California

Plaza Arts Gallery, Healdsburg, California

888 Gallery, San Rafeal, California

Thousand Oaks Gallery, Albany, California