Governor’s Invitational Art Show | Daniel Glanz

By Bonnie Gangelhoff

Courtship, bronze, 13 x 16 x 6.

Birds, big cats, and bears: Daniel Glanz captures them all in his energetic and powerful bronze pieces. Glanz is known for his ability to depict a creature’s movement, whether it’s a lumbering elephant or an eagle in flight. “I think there is a disconnect between people and animals today,” he says. “Most of what I do is to try to reconnect them.”

A trip to the Falkland Islands several years ago served as the inspiration for COURTSHIP, a bronze depiction of two black-browed albatrosses on view at the Governor’s show. “The birds were all white with beautiful black eyebrows,” Glanz recalls.

Glanz describes this journey as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. On a small ship with 90 other passengers, Glanz traveled to Antarctica and South Georgia Island. The passenger list included a cadre of scientists, whose mission was to count penguins in one of their breeding grounds and rookeries on South Georgia Island. The experience of seeing 200,000 king penguins in one place was mind-blowing, Glanz says.

While some artists like to put what he calls a human spin on animal behavior, the Colorado-based sculptor says that isn’t realistic. For him, wildlife and animals are misunderstood—their behavior is completely different from that of humans.

“There are a lot of subtleties in their body language and vocalizations. It’s interesting to observe them. It’s like learning a different language,” Glanz says. “People should look at them in terms of who they are. That’s what I try to do in my works.”

Glanz, who lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, says he is fortunate to be able to observe an array of wildlife firsthand when he isn’t traveling. Wild turkeys converge in his yard, and bobcats, deer, mountain lions, and eagles are regular visitors, too. He is represented by Saks Galleries, Denver, CO; RS Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX; Cogswell Gallery, Vail, CO; and The Squash Blossom, Colorado Springs, CO; www.glanzsculptures.com.

Featured in April 2012.