Richard Sigmund Offers ‘A Place To Rest’

This week, the artwork of Richard Sigmund goes on view in an exhibition titled “A Place to Rest” at Keyes Gallery in Sag Harbor. The show opens with a reception on Friday, January 14, from 6 to 8 p.m. and runs through February 2.

Sigmund grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began making art in San Diego at age 28, when he found it was a place where he felt free with his thoughts. He now lives with his wife in Brooklyn, and East Hampton. When he isn’t making artwork, he is creating Zen gardens behind his cottage, creating paths that are like his white line paintings. He is discovering nature, and finding healing with the trees.

“For 40 years, I have painted the white line in the street. Simple, common, often overlooked,” he said in a recent artist’s statement. “As an artist, making my work is therapy. To become artwork, the pieces need to have an effect on someone else. My goal as an artist is that my work will allow someone to have a moment in their day by seeing a stoop, that makes them stop, become present, and have a moment that is more than.”

“This body of work looks at the common, everyday stoop. One stoop sculpture is a loading dock, where workers sit and have their lunch. Another is a stoop in Dumbo whose character is beat-up, worn, and above all, wise. Every stoop is a place where people congregate, a place to rest. The ordinary stoop that becomes a place for healing, a place to socialize, sometimes a work of intricacy in itself,” he said. “In ‘A Place to Rest’ the ordinary stoop also meets the extraordinary shrine. For as long as I have painted white lines, I have practiced yoga. This practice has taken me many times to India. In India, there is a shrine on every corner. They are special in their spirituality, and even playful, but also common, like the white line, and the neighborhood stoop.

“I walk down the street and the artworld is all around me. I hope this show allows someone to stop and notice a stoop, and have a healing moment in their day.”

Keyes Gallery is at 45 Main Street at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor. For details visit juliekeyesart.com or call 631-808-3588.