John Robert Wolfe

Beck Ranch Park - Sign Sculpture

John Robert Wolfe
Winter Park, Florida
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From sculptor John Wolfe’s earliest childhood memories, a balsa wood and coat hanger mobile created by his mother hung in their living room. That sculpture served as the earliest inspiration for this artist’s life’s work in mobiles and kinetic sculptures.

Add to that a fearless use of bold colors inspired by Calder, Klee and Matisse and botanical inspiration that comes to him naturally from living deep in the woods of Florida, and you have a good idea of the sculptures and mobiles that now grace private homes and public buildings throughout the United States. Wolfe’s sculptures range from huge outdoor sites (the Mennello Museum of American Art in Orlando) to the ceilings and walls of private homes. And those works range in size from tabletop to monumental scale.

A hands-on artist in every sense of the word, Wolfe works primarily with steel and aluminum. He uses his background in painting to create dynamic textures on the surfaces of his work. His standing sculptures add bold ‘focal points’ to the landscape with kinetic pieces, such as windvanes, adding dimensions of movement to the sites. One can find this sculptor checking out everything from open spaces in stairways and cathedral ceilings in private homes to the lawns around museums as possible installation possibilities.

Wolfe taught art in Orange County, Florida for 15 years, then moved with his wife in 2000 to DeLand, where he founded Wolfe Gallery, which featured American crafts and Florida artists. He sold the gallery in 2005 and returned full time to his studio.