NY Daily News, January 3rd 2012
Oversized containers of ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise sit on the living room window sill in Robin Antar’s home in Midwood, Brooklyn.
She doesn’t have to worry about them spoiling, though. They may look like the real thing, but each is carved from stone.
“I wanted to do a set of condiments,” says the 54-year-old artist, who has been sculpting since she was 17.
The set is among about a dozen stone pieces Antar is sending to the Pop International Gallery in Manhattan in a couple of weeks, where they’ll be on display for six months.
It was July when we last checked in with the eccentric artist, as she was hollowing out a bag of potato chips from a 6,000-pound block of marble.
“The potato chip bag is finished,” she says. “It just needs a brand name and needs to be mounted. I didn’t make the chips yet because I’ve got to decide on a brand and every brand has different shaped chips.”
She’s holding out in hopes of getting a commission from a chip company. Until then, her focus is on dozens of other pieces.
Antar carves stone into items present in everyday American life. Everlast boxing gloves, a crinkled soda can, York Peppermint Pattie, tube of Crest toothpaste, and Oreo cookies spilling out of the bag are some of the supersized sculptures she’s sending to Pop.
The three condiments will likely be showcased together.
“For the mustard, I hired an artist from New Jersey to hand-paint the French’s label,” Antar says. “And the Hellmann’s mayonnaise, I just got a large bottle from Costco and blew up the label. So each sculpture is different. The mustard, the problem is the bottles were too small and it didn’t work.”
It took Antar a couple of months to complete the collection.
“It’s more coming up with the concept and deciding what to do,” she says. “You’ve got to figure out what you’re doing. It’s not just straight carving.”
She’s currently working on a liquor closet.
“I did Tanqueray Gin and a scotch bottle,” says Antar. “I’m in the process of getting a sign maker to make the labels. And then I’m going to do a bottle of Absolut vodka.” Antar was recently honored with a write-up in “Best of America Sculpture Artists Vol. II,” and a brief bio will appear in “Important World Artists I,” when it is published this year.
“I just finished a ton of abstracts,” Antar says. “And I’m working on a piece with 22 bunches of wine grapes. It’s one of my old pieces that I started in 1992. It’s like the last piece that I had in my shop and I figured I’d better finish.” You Should Know
Later this month, Robin Antar’s sculptures will be on display at the the Pop International Gallery, 473 West Broadway, Manhattan. (popinternational.com), or rantar.com)
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