Randy Caruso

Exhibit of sculptures and animation by John Frame

By David Pescovitz  |  am Monday, Apr 25 | Original Article

Los Angeles’s Huntington Library is celebrating the exquisite sculptures and phantasmagorical animation of Southern California artist John Frame. The exhibition, titled “Three Fragments of a Lost Tale,” runs until June 20 and features more than three dozen figures and props, ranging from a few inches to almost three feet tall, that Frame crafted from carved wood and found materials. Also included are Frame’s stop-motion film and photographs, along with the short documentary viewable above by Johnny Coffeen with a soundtrack scored by Frame. A companion art book, Three Fragments of a Lost Tale: Sculpture and Story by John Frame, is available.

Followup from BoingBoingYesterday, I posted about the hypertalented sculptor/animator/musician John Frame, whose artwork is on display at the Huntington Library near Los Angeles until June 20. The exhibit features more than three dozen figures and props, ranging from a few inches to almost three feet tall, that Frame crafted from carved wood and found materials for his feature film-in-progress, titled “The Tale of The Crippled Boy.”(Read More/View Film)

ART TALK | TUE APR 12, 2011 | Host: Edward Goldman

Strolling through the sprawling, meticulously maintained gardens of the Huntington Library always puts me in a very special mood. It makes me feel as if I am walking through the elaborate set design during a grand performance of a Shakespeare play: King Lear, Twelfth Night, or maybe The Merchant of Venice? (Listen/Read here.)

March 13, 2011 | Art | San Marino | By Lauren M. Whaley

John Frame’s characters are not meant to live under glass.

The Southern California artist has created a world from wooden and found objects that seem to whisper to audience members as they step into the darkened gallery. His show “Three Fragments of a Lost Tale: Sculpture and Story by John Frame,” opened Saturday at the Huntington Museum, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

The Boone gallery displays more than 30 characters and dozens of other pieces of found and carved objects. Most characters have moveable hands, jaws, feet and eyes. They range in height from three inches to almost three feet. Individual figures seem alive under glass on pedestals and posed in a group on a theater stage. Frame also captures their movement in photographs and in a stop-motion animated film with an original music score. (continues at www.scpr.org)

The artist John Frame has come down from the mountains with a new exhibit that came out of a dream. “Three Fragments of a Lost Tale” is at the Huntington in San Marino until June 20th. It blends found objects, dozens of eerie hand-carved mannequins, stop-motion animation, and the sets the movie was filmed on. Off-Ramp host John Rabe met Frame at the Huntington. (Interview)

Magical exhibit at the Huntington in San Marino: John Frame

Apr 16, 2011, 5:04 PM | For visitors who are thinking of visiting the Huntington Gardens, Library and Gallery in San Marino (near Pasadena)— and for locals who haven’t visited in a while:

In addition to its usual treasures (finest gardens in Southern California, interesting art collections and world-class library, AND yummy treats at the tea room), the Huntington is showing an amazing exhibit of sculpture by Southern California artist John Frame. Like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Magical, otherworldly, strangely alive and spiritual small figurative sculptures/puppets, inhabiting a mysterious world of their own. Part of an ongoing project that will include a film and a “story”, some of which can be seen as part of the exhibit. My friend and I were just blown away; I can’t wait to take other family and friends to see this exhibit.

It is there til mid-June; recommended for all ages (I think children will love it); tucked away in a hard-to-find location in the very back building, so ask if you can’t find it. (read more)

Edward Goldman | Art Critic, NPR-Affiliate KCRW 89.9 FM

The Art of Twisting and Turning Reality as We Know It

Strolling through the sprawling, meticulously maintained gardens of the Huntington Library always puts me in a very special mood. It makes me feel as if I am walking through the elaborate set design during a grand performance of a Shakespeare play: King Lear, Twelfth Night, or maybe The Merchant of Venice? (Read More.)

Jana Monji | LA Theater Reviews Examiner

John Frame brings the theatrical to art in a whimsical, thought-provoking way with steampunk-ish articulated puppets on their very own stage and at the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino (Pasadena area), his sculptures are set in their own spotlights, a cast of the curious. His tales invite you to dream. (Read More)