John Geldersma

John Geldersma (born October 16, 1942 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is known for his wooden sculptures of, what he calls, "contemporary tribalism".
Life.
Geldersma earned a BFA from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (then known as University of Southwestern Louisiana) and a MFA from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. The artist has cited his early immersion in the intersection of such divergent cultures as French, Spanish, African-American, Caribbean, Anglo-Saxon and Native American as a major influence on his art. Geldersma divides his time between his native Louisiana and Colorado.
Works.
Geldersma has assembled a body of work over his forty-year career, much of it based out of Lafayette, that can perhaps best be described as spiritually symbolic totems. He began carving totems in 1970, inspired by African art. The masks and totems he sculpted were a collection of symbols joined not only as a design element, but also as an organization of a kind of psyche. The "Spirit Poles" are central to the artist's private mythology and invite meditation and solitary contemplation. Gelderma says, “A lot of these begin to look back you as much as you look at them, especially the pieces with the eyes. They confront you as well as you confront them. A lot of times I make them so that they are eye level so that you have this kind of confrontation and connection with them. I think they are charged, not only because of me but because there’s something in the wood, and there’s something there.”
His "Spirit Poles" are carved, smooth, minimalist, vertical, wooden poles with tapered ends, usually three or more feet long, some on bases. Geldersma works with aspen, pecan, weathered driftwood, and salvaged wood to create totemic poles, cairns, and tablets.
The artist's creative process involves studying the wood and seeing the character of it with its twists and turns. “I don’t like the straight ones. It’s more like a dance, like a ballet when there’s some movement,” says Geldersma. The original shape of the wood often dictates how the totem will ultimately look. Beginning with the raw material, the artist first removes the bark with a knife and then works the piece of wood with a chainsaw to get the rough shape he wants. Using increasingly smaller tools, from grinders down to sandpaper and steel wool, Geldersma works the wood into his desired form. He then applies color either by painting the totems in bands of bold colors or by burning them to achieve deep rich blacks.
Solo Exhibitions.
2013 Variations, Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, Santa Fe
2011 Black Wings, Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, Santa Fe
2009 Presence of Spirit, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, LA
2007 Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2006 Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2005 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2005 S.O.F.A, courtesy of Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
2004 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
Marguerite Oestriecher Fine Art, New Orleans, LA
2003 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2002 Marguerite Oestriecher Fine Art, New Orleans, LA
2001 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2000 Marguerite Oestricher Fine Arts, New Orleans, LA
1999 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
1998 Marguerite Oesteicher Fine Art, New Orleans, LA
1998 Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
1997 Retrospective Exhibition, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA
1996 Hotel díVille, Surrenne, France
1996 R. Treger Gallerie, Paris, France
1996 Cline LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
1995 Butters Gallery Ltd., Portland, OR
1994 Captured Spirits: John Geldersma Sculpture 1964-1994,
1994 University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, LA
1993 Gasperi Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1992 Mill Street Gallery, Aspen, CO
1991 Willougby Sharp Gallery, New York, NY
1991 Artworks Gallery, Seattle, WA
1990 LewAllen/Butler Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
1989 Duplantier Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1989 LewAllen/Butler Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
1988 Primitivist Sculpture: John Geldersma, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, TX
1987 Via Serpents, University Art Museum, Lafayette, LA
1977 Memphis Art Academy, Memphis, TN
1967 Rutgers, The State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
1965 Fine Arts Gallery, The University of Southwestern, Louisiana, Lafayette, LA
Selected Group Exhibitions.
2012 Totems & Talismans, ENO Gallery, †Hillsboro, N.C
2011 NEWMEXORADO, Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, NM
2010 Introducing . . . Three New Gallery Artists, Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM
 Materials Matter, Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM
2001 Artists of S.O.F.A., Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
2000 Under the Influence: Artists Respond to the Twentieth Century, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
 Palates and Pate: A Joining of Creative and Culinary Arts, Acadiana Outreach Center, Lafayette, LA
 Levy Gallery, Monroe, LA
 Petite Physique: A Body of Small Work, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
 Art Heart, Sophia Georg Gallery, Denver, CO
 Five From Louisiana, Center for Fine and Performing Arts, Pensacola, FL
 School House Show, Fort Collins, CO
1999 Winter Group Exhibition, J. Cotter Gallery, Beaver Creek, CO
 S.O.F.A., courtesy Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
 Levy Gallery, Monroe, LA
LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
1998 S.O.F.A., courtesy of Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
McLaren Markowitz Gallery, Boulder, CO
J. Cotter Gallery, Beaver Creek, CO
1997 Southern Stars, Art Center Galleries, Contemporary Masterworks from
 Florida Museums, Jacksonville, FL
1996 Gallerie R. Teger, Paris, France
1995 Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID
1994 Born on the Bayou: Celebrating Arts of Louisiana, CBís 313 Gallery, New York, NY
 Horwitch-LewAllen Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1993 The Bayou Biennial, BCís 313 Gallery, New York, NY
1992 Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukie, WI
American House Gallery, Piermont, NY
Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID
1991 Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukie, WI
 Born on the Bayou: Celebrating Arts of Louisiana, CBís 313 Gallery, New York, NY
Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID
Southwest Louisiana Artists, Baton Rouge Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA
Gallery Selection 1991, LewAllen Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1990 Art in the Garden VIII, American Crafts Gallery, Cleveland, OH
Interstate 49, Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA
Galerie R. Teger, Paris, France
1989 Bogus Beasts II, International Gallery, San Diego, CA
Fresh From Down the Road, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
1988 Multiple Sights, University Art Museum, Lafayette, LA
Academy Gallery, New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, New Orleans, LA
Unrealism, Fayerweather Gallery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
1987 Return to Eden: John Geldersma and David Butler, Todd Capp Gallery, New York, NY
 Animals, Todd Capp Gallery, New York, NY
 Gris-Gris, Artistís Alliance, Lafayette, NY
 Museum Show, Peidmont Museum, Winston-Salem, NC
1986 Visual Arts: The Southeast 1986, One Securities Center, Georgia State University, GA
1985 Louisiana Now, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
1984 The Third Coast Exhibition, Art League of Houston Gallery, Houston, TX
1983 A Collection-A Collector: The Norman Fischer Collection, Jacksonville Art Museum, Jacksonville, FL
1982 Sculpture Biennial, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
1981 Shreveport Art Guild, Meadows Museum of Art, Shreveport, LA
1980 First Louisiana Biennial Sculpture Invitational, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
1979 U.S.L. 1960-1979, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
1977 Fetishes, 112 Greene Street, New York, NY
Artists Biennial, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
 Louisiana Environments, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
 Vision, Process, Environment, Lafayette Natural History Museum, Lafayette, LA
 Ninth Annual Invitational, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, OK
1976 Louisiana Bien Amis, Louisiana Bicentennial Exhibition, Paris, France
Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA
 Ninth National/International Sculpture Conference, Lakefront, LA
1975 Artistís Biennial, New Orleans Art Museum, Louisiana, LA
1974 Curved Air, Union Gallery, The University of Southwestern Louisiana, LA
1973 Louisiana Craft Council Exhibition, New Orleans, LA
Baton Rouge Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA
Louisiana American Revolution, Bicentennial Art Exhibitions, Baton Rouge, LA
1966 Avant Garde Annual Exhibition, Central Park, New York, NY
1965 Twenty-Third Annual Southeastern Competition, Atlanta, GA
1964 Louisiana State Annual Competition, Baton Rouge, LA
1963 Annual Competition Sponsored by the American Association of University Women, Dallas, TX