Corbett vs. Dempsey

The Other Man of Steel

By Abraham Ritchie. Artslant.com. November 17, 2008

This is the last week to catch Corbett vs. Dempsey's exhibition "Joseph Goto: Iron Man" featuring the sculpture and painting of Chicago artist Joseph Goto (1916-1994). Unfolding for the visitor at the top of the stairs to the gallery is a space filled with Goto's welded steel sculptures. Of varying sizes, from palm-sized to large and free-standing, Goto's sculptures are smartly installed, distinct groups are placed together which then dialogue with larger pieces. Along the walls are Goto's paintings and print works, together it all equals a kind of posthumous-mini-retrospective.

I was lucky enough to walk into the gallery when owners Jim Corbett and John Dempsey were there. Extremely friendly and approachable, we discussed the installation of the sculptures (pedestals are optional) and I learned that Goto had an allergy to turpentine, which eventually caused him to stop painting. His loss is our gain in this case. The paintings are good but, to this viewer, seemed heavily indebted to Wilfredo Lam and to a lesser extent, Pablo Picasso of the 1920s. According to Jim and John, the allergy to turpentine moved him firmly to sculpture, where he excelled.

Anyone working on welded steel sculpture in the 1950s had to contend with a titan in that field: David Smith. It is therefore unsurprising that there are references to Smith in several of Goto's sculptures. This is not to say that Goto ends up being derivative, in fact some of the originality in Goto's work lies in his absorption of Smith and the clear ways that Goto moves past Smith. David Smith's welded steel sculpture firmly maintains a single viewpoint, usually frontal, largely until the Cubi series. Smith used this single viewing angle to create sculpture that largely relies on strength of composition. Goto also uses strong compositional techniques, but, and especially in smaller works, embraces shifting perspective. The idea of a shifting perspective that forces the viewer to move through space would be most well known in the later 1960s through Tony Smith (no relation to David Smith) and continuing through to Richard Serra today. Lessons learned from David Smith, much of the sculpture shows Goto moving into his own mastery.

Several of the most compelling pieces on display are those grouped together on the floor and on a worn wooden bench that turned out to be Goto's actual workbench (seen above). In these smaller works, Goto balances chunks of unfinished steel with delicate steel loops that make you forget how unbelievably massive and weighty these pieces are (the owners assured me also that they were in fact just as heavy, or more so, as they look). Chunks of steel break open or tear apart, evoking an unlikely organic feeling of something emerging or being born. Grouped as they are in the gallery, the organic feeling is heightened further as the works seem to crawl towards each other as if responding to a call. It is also impossible to experience these pieces from one angle; the viewer must circle, crouch, and circle back. It's an active viewing experience for active sculpture. One should also know that Goto only finished six large-scale, outdoor works in his lifetime. Had this work been larger, would we remember Goto as the sculptor who activated the viewer in the environment of sculpture?

Corbett vs. Dempsey introduces visitors to artists sometimes overlooked by history but well deserving of their own place, and this exhibit of Joseph Goto is no exception. Accompanying the exhibit is a handsome, well-produced catalogue, typical of Corbett vs. Dempsey's polished presentations of artists. In the catalogue are recollections of Goto from other artists and an essay from the late Art Institute of Chicago curator (and donor) Katherine Kuh. In her 1973 article for World magazine Kuh praises Goto while denouncing Bruce Nauman as a "feeble fifth-rate talent," while Kuh was clearly wrong about Nauman, I found myself wondering as she did why Goto wasn't more well known. Corbett vs. Dempsey is an invaluable asset to the Chicago art scene, reminding us that history isn't simply a single (New York) master, but that certain artists may have indeed been overlooked.