Coast (Walking Coyote)

Title: Coast (Walking Coyote)
Date Creation: 1999
Location: 6801 Gaylord Parkway – Interior Texas Sculpture Garden

“My sculpture Coast is part of a larger series of works that I have been developing for many years. I started making animals out of real shoes about 1979. I began casting them in bronze about 1990. At first glance what one may perceive is what looks like a coyote on a chest high table. Upon closer examination, you will see that the coyote is what is NOT there.The form of the coyote is a void defined by a network of elegantly placed electrical cords, shoes, thies, belts, gloves, and other articles of human clothing. When I was doing these pieces, I was concentrating on them as exquiste drawings frozen in a three dimensional space. From one angle it may look like an abstraction, and from another it would obviously appear to be a coyote. I wanted them to appear and disappear in this formal three-dimensional gesture drawing.

I also thought of them very musically, like a fine piano jazz solo by Thelonius Monk. They would have exquisite paterns, twists, turns, and an occasional dissonant surprise. I put the coyote on the table to emphasize the abstract and musical qualities of this three-dimensional drawing over its potential “nature” or “wildlife” readings.” - Ken Little, Artist

About the Artist:

Ken Little lives and works in San Antonio, TX. He received his B.F.A. from Texas Tech and his M.F.A. from the University of Utah. His work has been featured in more than 35 one person exhibitions and 200 group exhibitions throughout the country in prestigious venues such as The Washington Projects for the Arts in Washington, DC; The Forum for Contemporary Art in St. Louis; the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii; The Contemporary Art Museum in Houston; the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC and many others.

During 2001 Little was the recipient of the BorderArt/GrensKunst residency fellowship in Germany. He has received many prizes, honors, and grants including two major Artist Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts – one in Sculpture and one in Crafts as well as the Mid-America Art Alliance Sculpture Fellowship.

Ken Little has been a professor of Visual Art at the University of Texas at San Antonio since 1988. In that capacity he acts as the head of sculpture concentration for the BFA and MFA degrees. He also serves the Division as the chairman of the Graduate Faculty for the Master of Fine Arts Program and the Grauate Advisor of Record for the MFA in Studeio Art and Art History. Professor Little has had important public commissions and is in many public collections.

Gallery: Finesilver Gallery, San Antonio, TX. website: finesilver.com.; Mark White Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA. website: markwhiteart.com; Stremmel Gallery, Reno Nevada.