William Tunberg (artist)

William Tunberg (born August 15, 1936 in Los Angeles, California) is an American artist specializing in marquetry, sculpture, drawing and assemblage (art). He lives and works in Venice, California.

William Tunberg
William Tunberg with a marquetry sculpture
BornAugust 15, 1936
Los Angeles
EducationUniversity of Southern California, 1963, BA Architecture University of Southern California, 1965, MFA Sculpture
OccupationFine Artist
Known forMarquetry, sculpture, drawing, assemblage

Early life

Tunberg was born in Los Angeles on August 15, 1936 to a family of writers. His father, also named William, was a movie, radio, television and short story writer, writing such films and television series as Old Yeller, Savage Sam, Garden of Evil, War Paint, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Wild Wild West, and The Monroes.[1][2][3] Tunberg's uncle, Karl Tunberg, was a prolific screenplay writer, his most notable work being Ben-Hur.[4]

Tunberg obtained college scholarships and fellowships from the University of Idaho, University of the South (Sewanee), and University of Southern California (USC), where he received his Bachelor of Arts in architecture in 1963 and his Master of Fine Arts in sculpture in 1965. In 1964, Tunberg won the USC Stanley Jameson Award for most promising artist. In 1965, Tunberg won the First Award, Graphics, Professional for his "Wintergarden IX" drawing in the All California Art in Cross-Section Exhibit, juried by George D. Culler, Director of the San Francisco Museum of Art, and Kenneth Donahue, Deputy Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.[5]

After graduating from USC in 1965, Tunberg established his studio in Venice, California.

Career

During the 1960s, Tunberg focused on drawing and assemblage. Influenced by Cliff Westerman, Joseph Cornell and Ed Kienholz, Tunberg saw assemblage as the natural three-dimensional extension of surrealism. Using wood, metals, fiberglass, cast plaster, carvings of body parts and found objects, Tunberg encased his narratives in acrylic boxes. Tunberg's assemblage Neoclassical Drawing Trap was selected for inclusion in the Annual of American Sculpture by the Whitney Museum and featured in Time[6] and Esquire.[7]

In 1977, Tunberg was a recipient of the California Arts Commission Award, "Eyes and Ears Foundation Grant", to design and produce art to be exhibited on a 48-by-16-foot (14.6 m × 4.9 m) billboard. Tunberg's Pat Tap was exhibited on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California[8][9] and referred to in the book Megamurals & Supergraphics: Big Art.[10] During the 1970s, Tunberg's assemblages were encased in boxes painted in high gloss metal-flake, to invite the viewer into the inner workings and tough narratives of his artwork.

During the 1980s, Tunberg began creating furniture and doors. His furniture is made of exotic hardwoods and inlays and his doors are covered in marquetry cut from wood veneer. In 1987, the 72 Market Street Oyster Bar and Grill in Venice commissioned Tunberg to create an inlaid sculptural railing that spanned the entire interior of the restaurant.[11] In 1989, the Maple Drive Restaurant in Beverly Hills commissioned Tunberg to create 52 one-of-a-kind inlaid sculptural tables and booths and a combination marquetry piano/room dividing screen. As a result of Tunberg's work for Maple Drive, he was awarded the 1990 Annual Design Award, Furniture Designer of the Year, by Angeles magazine.[12]

In 1991, Tunberg won the Veteran's Memorial Competition of the City of Santa Monica for his memorial design Promises Kept, which was to be installed in Palisades Park. The design consisted of a locked and barred door surrounded by a fence; a window set in the door contained an eternal flame. Tunberg stated that "I want people to see the monument, and say, 'Whoa, that is heavy!' . . . My idea was to express my true feelings, an honest assessment of what the veteran has done for the country." Selected by a city-appointed panel of three jurors from a field of eleven proposals, Tunberg's design was reproduced as a model and placed on public display. Juror Woods Davy, a sculptor, described the proposal as being the one "that had the most feeling to it', and fellow juror Thomas Rhoads, director of the Santa Monica Museum of Art, regarded it as "the most interesting and . . . thought-provoking of all the proposals". Described by former City Councilwoman Christine Reed as "that jail-door thing", the design caused a political firestorm in the Santa Monica City Council, despite support from panelists and after much uproar, the memorial was abandoned.[13][14] 1993 brought Tunberg's first religious commission. Bel Air Church in Los Angeles commissioned a 16-foot (4.9 m) inlaid hardwood cross. When the 1994 Northridge earthquake occurred, the Los Angeles Times reported "The 300-pound cross, barely anchored to the floor, did not topple, nor was it touched by the water, though everything around it was ruined."[15] In 1996, The Presbyterian Great Vision Church in Los Angeles commissioned an 18-foot (5.5 m) inlaid hardwood cross. In 1999, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Irmas Campus, Los Angeles, commissioned a sculptural Ark of the Covenant made of hardwood and marquetry.

In 2001, Tunberg covered the interior of Roy's Hawaiian Restaurant in Rancho Bernardo, California with marquetry sculptures. In 2003, General Dynamics commissioned two 21-foot (6.4 m) marquetry sculptures to span the VIP sections of two sister ships, Midnight Sun and North Star. In 2004–2005, Tunberg was commissioned by Chapman University in Orange, California to work with architect David C. Martin to create sculpture and furniture for Chapman's new Fish Interfaith Center.[16][17] Tunberg created the altar, lectern, and founders' chairs for the main worship space; the communion table, lectern, and a multi-faith 7-foot (2.1 m) standard with interchangeable tops for Christian, Jewish, and Islamic faiths; and sculpture and furniture for its executive offices.[16][17] In 2008, Chapman University commissioned an Ark of the Covenant to house a Holocaust Torah that was hidden from the Nazis and smuggled to safety during World War II. Chapman University and the Orange County Register described Tunberg as "...one of the world's foremost woodworking and marquetry artists."[18][19] Also in 2008, the University of California, Riverside, commissioned a 30-by-10-foot (9.1 m × 3.0 m) sculptural wall for its new Alumni Center.

Sculpture and furniture commissions since 2010 include four interactive hardwood sculptures for Chapman University's Student Union, and sculptural marquetry showcases for an 1854 antique Bible and an 1833 Book of Mormon.[20]

Tunberg has exhibited drawings and sculpture at the Whitney Museum,[21] Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Orange County Museum of Art, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Portland Art Museum, Bishop Museum, and Craft and Folk Art Museum. Tunberg has exhibited at Marlborough Chelsea,[22] University of Southern California University of California, Santa Barbara,[23] UCLA Wight Gallery,[24] University of California, Berkeley, California College of the Arts,[25] American Jewish University, University of Redlands, Caltech, Pasadena,[26] Otis, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art,[27] and Robert Berman Gallery.[28] Works by Tunberg are in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Asher Collection,[29] and São Paulo Museum of Modern Art.

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References
  1. "Biographical Notes, Tunberg, William". Social Networks and Archival Context. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  2. "William Tunberg, Jacqueline Tunberg, and Karl Alexander Papers, 1945-1994". Archive Grid. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  3. Hilger, Michael. "Native Americans in the Movies: Portrayals from Silent Films to the Present, pp. 225, 337". Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  4. "Karl Tunberg; Oscar Nominee for 'Ben-Hur'". Los Angeles Times. 11 April 1992. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  5. June 14, 1965 Award Letter. 1965 All California Art in Cross-Section Exhibition.
  6. February 28, 1969. "New Trends in Art". Time, pp. 70-71.
  7. "Portrait of the Artist as a Wet Hen". Pictured Essay. April 1970. Esquire, pp. 134-139.
  8. "Your Message Here: An Incomplete History of Billboards". February 14, 1977. New West. Copyright 1977 by NYM Corp.
  9. "Artboard Gallery Map & Guide". February 1977, Eyes & Ears, p. 18.
  10. Greenberg, David. "Megamurals & Supergraphics: Big Art". Environmental Communications, published by Running Press, 1977.
  11. Bonwitt, Eric. "The Art of the Craftsman and Thoughts of Leisure: Bill Tunberg at 72 Market Street". January 20, 1989. Santa Monica News, pp. 14-15.
  12. Jaffe, Joanne. "The First Annual Design Awards". June 1990. Angeles Magazine.
  13. Moran, Julio (February 21, 1991). "Design for Memorial is a Model of Debate: Santa Monica: The proposed new veterans monument has created controversy and some anger". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  14. Lund-Seeden, Kathleen. "SM Panel Picks War Memorial: Radical door-shaped design slated for Palisades Park". February 14, 1991. The Outlook, Westside B1, p. 1.
  15. "Hearts of L.A. / How the Quake Rocked Our Spirits and Changed Our Lives : Making Sense: 'I think God intervened.'". Section T. Los Angeles Times. January 30, 1994. p. 10. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  16. Cohen, Edie. "A Congregation of Talent". August 2005. Interior Design, pp. 186-193.
  17. Cohen, Edie. "AC Martin Partners, Wallace All Faiths Chapel, City of Orange, California". Best of Year/Institutional. December 2006, Number 15. Interior Design, pp. 110-111.
  18. "Chapman to Dedicate Torah, Host Holocaust survivors". Orange County Register. April 20, 2008. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  19. "Evening of Holocaust Remembrance". Chapman University Digital Commons. April 17, 2008.
  20. "The Fish Interfaith Center, Inspire the Spirit". Bible and Book of Mormon Cabinet Dedications. October 2015.
  21. Doty, Robert. "Human Concern/Personal Torment". Published 1969. Whitney Museum of American Art, p. 50.
  22. Tuchman, Maurice. "Four Americans: Post-Spiritual Abstraction". January 2004.
  23. Siff, Elena Mary. "Southern California Assemblage: Past and Present", p. 34. September 1986.
  24. Ayres, Ann. Wight Gallery, UCLA. January 20, 1989. "Forty Years of California Assemblage", pp. 216-217.
  25. Albright, Thomas. "A Fascinating Show of Hands". September 18, 1970. San Francisco Chronicle, p. 64.
  26. Baxter Art Gallery, California Institute of Technology. February 1972. "Surrealism is Alive and Well in the West", pp. 69-71.
  27. Wilson, William (January 26, 1986). "Doing a Sculpture Routine at LAICA". Calendar Desk. Los Angeles Times. p. 76. Somehow the circumstantial neutralization of [Bill Tunberg]'s restrained virtuosity brings to mind another comic-strip-world event that went largely unremarked over the holidays.
  28. "William Tunberg 'Endangered Species'". Robert Berman Gallery. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  29. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 1984 Catalog Vol. 22/No. 7. July 1984. 4.

Further reading
  • Walseth, Brad (April 2008). "A Symphony of Colors". CWB Magazine. pp. 34–35.
  • Woodward, Josef (May 27, 2005). "Aesthetic-Intensive Woodwork". Santa Barbara News-Press. p. 13.
  • Leffingwell, Edward (October 2004). "Four Americans at Marlborough Chelsea". Art in America. pp. 156–157 – via CamilleUtterback.com.
  • Gadziak, Sam (June 2003). "Innovations in Marquetry". CWB Magazine. pp. 59–62.
  • Frank, Peter (June 1998). "Art Pick: 6/19-6/25". LA Weekly.
  • Sawahata, Lesa (April 1989). "William Tunberg: Going with the Grain". Angeles Magazine. pp. 40–41.
  • Tetlow, Karin (August 1989). "Beyond the Labels". Interiors Magazine. Vol. CXLVIV no. 1. p. 126.
  • Gardner, Colin (July 18, 1986). "Galleries, Santa Monica". Part VI. Los Angeles Times. p. 18.
  • Mississippi Mud, Winter 1980, Cover Illustration
  • Roberts, Don (April 1979). "The Trout Hooker's Ball". Oregon Magazine (Illustration). p. 44.
  • Mississippi Mud, c. November 1989: Cover and three interior illustrations pp. 26, 32, 33.
  • Zusman, Barbara (September 1975). "Tunberg's Chaotic Imagery". Artweek.
  • Meilach, Dona (1975). Box Art. Crown Publishing.
  • Mogelon, Alex; Laliberte, Norman (1974). Art in Boxes. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-4422-4609-9.
  • Art International, April 1972
  • Owyang, Judy (April 15, 1972). "The Art Scene". Evening Outlook.
  • Cross, Miriam Dungan (October 4, 1970). "Show of Hands at CCAC". Oakland Tribune. p. 30-EN.
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