Editing: Al Farrow
Note: I’m still writing this
It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly two decades since I spent time as an assistant in Al Farrow’s studio while he built The Spine and Tooth of Santo Guerro. I often say I “worked for” Al, but the truth is simpler: he let me be there while I was still trying to find my footing, and he treated me with more patience than I deserved. I’m writing this post out of great respect for Al and in appreciation for who he is as a person. Al’s art is unique, has a character all of its own, and I admire it greatly. As a person, Al is beyond compare.
When I worked for Al in San Rafael, I had recently graduated from college and was undertaking a dual apprenticeship. In the day, I would work for a meticulous German woodworking craftsman. At the end of the shift I would bike over to Al’s studio and he would be getting started as the sun started to set.
Al had a primary studio assistant who was a very interesting person. A Frenchman who had served in the military and was living on a houseboat in a nearby marina. That guy gave me a ton of well deserved crap.
Most days it was the Frenchman and myself waiting outside of a large old metallic shed if I remember it right. When he showed up, Al would open the outer door and we would enter a parking area that led into his studio and his son’s gallery. I think Al shared this space with a couple of other artists who had left in the years before. What Al was left with was an artists foundry. Al’s studio is a large space that supported both his sculptural needs and the work he did to ‘support’ himself.
Al’s side work was really interesting. I think in the past he had a large presence in the pre-columbian art market and became well known as an art restorer. While I worked for Al, several people came in and had Al repair both pre-columbian and contemporary sculpture pieces that had been damaged. It was interesting to watch Al shift completely as he repaired a 1000 year old wooden figure one day then move to a Remington bronze the next. I learned a lot about restoration practices from watching him work.
Al’s studio space was one of the coolest places ever. Not only did it house a working studio space where he could chop and weld as he needed… Al also housed his collection of objects. These objects that I’m talking about were maybe 1000 pre columbian artifacts, old skulls, insane things… I remember he pulled a book off of a shelf one day and said “this book was found on the street of New York City… someone had just left it for trash collection”. What it was, was a book of pages containing museum quality fabric swatches dating back 100’s of years.
“The interesting part of making one of these sculptures is that I can't just go out to the store and buy something that might fit in that specific spot or in you know fill that particular need i have to work with what I have on hand. so I have to have a lot on hand I've accumulated quite a stash of weapons you know submachine guns pistols rifles everything I have shelves and shelves of shell cartridges and bullets”
More coming… this needs editing.