Michael Hertrich Gallery To Debut Dan Droz Solo Exhibition

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Best known for his award-winning graphic and furniture design, for more than 40 years, Dan Droz has been a prolific sculptor and visual artist, creating hundreds of sculptures and wall constructions.  For the first time, the public will have the opportunity to experience his large-scale sculptures and wall constructions when Michael Hertrich Gallery stages a major exhibition of Droz's work.

"Transformation: Sculpture and Reimagined Planes" premieres Friday, November 30 at the Michael Hertrich Gallery, 2008 East Carson Street, with a reception from 6-9:30 p.m. and will be on view through the end of December.  To accommodate the size of the pieces, Hertrich has rented additional space adjacent to his gallery.  Droz's large-scale, freestanding metal pieces are single sheet constructions of aluminum, either painted or powder coated.  Many of these sculptures evoke origami, in the complex way that Droz has worked and folded the metal.

Michael Hertrich, owner of his namesake gallery, first discovered Droz's work when he visited 201 North Braddock Ave, an industrial building in Point Breeze that has served as studio space for Droz, along with other artists.  Upon seeing some 60 sculptures and wall pieces on display in the building, he set out to find the artist and was surprised to learn that Droz, well known as the founder and president of his own design firm, was the sculptor.

"Combining threads of Minimalism, mobility, and Constructivism, this is an amazing body of work," says Hertrich. "It is so rare to see the work of a mature artist for the first time – and one whose works have not been seen – simply extraordinary."

About the Art:  
Although the design and fine art work of Dan Droz has spanned many forms, materials and media, there are a number of common themes, including transformation, interaction, geometry and repetition.

Transformation is an important aspect to almost all Droz works, including graphic design.  His paper constructions and wall pieces are perhaps the best examples, where moveable elements allow viewers to change the shape, configuration or color of a composition.  Some of his wall sculptures feature large moveable panels that rotate on their centers of gravity. Because pieces are connected to each other, moving one piece moves others with it, without disrupting the integrity of the piece. 

Other themes are Interaction, made possible through the transformative properties of his work, creates an active role on the part of the viewer.  The wall pieces invite participation and therefore, the viewer is involved.  Geometry is one of the important elements that make both transformation and interaction possible.  Droz' thoughtful consideration of how elements are related to or connect with each other is intrinsic to pleasure of changing the elements.  The last theme is repetition which occurs in Droz pieces on a number of levels.

Notes art critic Kurt Shaw, "Droz has become a master of formal articulation.  He is an artist, who, in the face of flat composition, has not felt constricted by two dimensions, but has achieved a dimension of infinity, of wealth of form and volume which we can define as a true entering into possession of space."

About the Artist:
For more than 40 years, Dan has been a hallmark of the local, national and international design scenes. He began his design career after graduating cum laude from Harvard and served as guest design director for Mademoiselle Magazine in New York before returning to Pittsburgh to begin his consulting and teaching career.  For 18 years, he taught design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) where he co-founded the first multi-disciplinary university program in the US to bring together engineers, marketers and designers in a single program. As an internationally known furniture and product designer, Droz received many awards, including Industrial Design Magazine's Designer's Choice Award, an unprecedented 7 Daphne Awards (considered as the 'Oscar of Furniture Design'), and Best of U.S. by Abitari Magazine (Italy).  In 2001, Dan left teaching to devote more time to design and product development, specializing in design strategy while continuing his fine art work, largely for private clients and corporations.

His consulting firm, Droz and Associates, has been recognized as a "Marketer of the Year" an unprecedented 31 times, including Grand Marketer of the Year and Agency of the Year in Western Pennsylvania. In 1996, he was recognized as one of six distinguished design alumni of Harvard College at the 30th anniversary of Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts.

He recently retired from the firm to concentrate full time on his sculpture and wall pieces.

"For most of my career, I was more of a 'closet artist,' in the sense that, although I made art on a regular basis, probably every day, I didn't think to make a living from it," explains Droz. "In my business, there is enormous pressure in design to accommodate the client so my art was for a personal creative release.  I think I am the 'oldest, new artist'," Droz adds. 

SOURCE Dan Droz