John Clement
ABOUT THE ARTIST
John Clement (b. 1969, USA) is a New York–based sculptor known for his bold, curvilinear steel works that transform industrial materials into playful, dy- namic forms. A former apprentice to sculptors Mark di Suvero and John Henry, Clement carries forward the Constructivist tradition with a distinctive vocabulary of looping, arcing lines that evoke energy, movement, and joy.
He studied at the University of Pennsylvania and the School of Visual Arts before establishing his own practice in the 1990s. Working primarily with steel pipe, Clement bends, welds, and paints each piece by hand, ranging from intimate tabletop works to monumental public sculptures installed across the U.S., including Atlanta, Ogden, and North Carolina.
His work has been exhibited widely, including solo shows at Leila Heller Gallery and group exhibitions at institutions such as KANEKO. Clement’s vibrant palette and precision-built forms offer a fresh take on sculptural abstraction, balancing engineering with expressive play.
"The spiraling shapes of cylindrical forms have a fascination that is so deeply linked to life, that they seem to be the root of life. From DNA to galactic spirals, the interweaving of these forms is ever present to humans. John Clement has woven this energy with consummate artistry and a brilliant choice of color so that these works have both power and elegance. His capacity to handle steel and aluminum has a grace that makes such work seem easy to achieve, but that is deceptive: the bending, joining, welding and grinding are complex, difficult, and require a knowledge of the material. His strength and sense of beauty makes it obvious to me that John Clement is a talented and important artist."
- Mark Di Suvero, Sculptor
Artist Statement
ARTIST STATEMENT
John Clement’s sculpture captures the invisible architecture of emotion the arcs and tensions, the unseen forces that shape our inner worlds. Working in steel, Clement bends industrial material into forms that feel unexpectedly intimate. His sweeping curves and elegant loops speak in the language of gesture and gravity: a hand reaching, a breath held, a heart in motion.
Long associated with monumentality and strength, steel becomes something else in Clement’s hands, responsive, graceful, even tender. He doesn’t force the material to imitate life, but instead reveals its capacity to echo our most human experiences. His forms don’t narrate, they resonate. They hold space for what’s felt but not always seen love, memory, connection, longing.
While his large-scale public works command space and energy, Clement’s smaller sculptures invite proximity and reflection. Whether soaring into the skyline or quietly grounded, each piece is a study in balance between structure and softness, weight and lift, permanence and movement. The work is both physical and emotional, a kind of silent choreography where form becomes feeling.
At its core, Clement’s practice is an exploration of how materials move and how, through them, we are moved. His sculptures don’t just occupy space; they shape it. They hold us in a moment. And in that pause, they remind us that even the strongest materials can carry the lightness of the soul.
