Tom Corbin Man on Diving Board Study II

Today, Tom’s work appears in over 20 galleries and showrooms. Individual collectors include Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hanks, The Pritzker’s, George Brett and the late Frank Sinatra. Public installation sites include the United Nations, The Kauffman Foundation, the Firefighter’s Memorial, the Children’s Fountain, University of Oregon and Florida State University. In addition to important public and private collections, his work has found its way onto the sets of some major motion pictures, among them Ransom, True Lies, A Perfect Murder and Changing Lanes. Totem Chandelier. Bronze, natural patina. Frosted or wispy white shade. Artist: Tom Corbin.

Tom Corbin’s introduction and subsequent career in sculpture has been based more on serendipity than calculation. A two dimensional artist in college, Tom’s first brush with the third dimension came in a chance meeting with a bronze sculptor in 1982. Classes with this sculptor led to a deepened interest in bronze casting and thoughts of a career in art. In 1986, Tom left the secure confines of his advertising agency job for the unpredictability of life as a full time sculptor. Tom landed his first major public commission in 1988. Additional commissions followed, along with the financial freedom for Tom to develop his own “speculative” sculpture.

During this period, Tom was also experimenting with furniture design, an area that would soon play a major role in the growth of his studio operation. Artist Statement I was initially attracted to the physicality and the dynamic nature of sculpture and was intrigued by the profound impact sculpture can have on an environment. As for bronze casting, the medium dictates a certain sense of tradition and order, which I continue to embrace. The challenge for me is to take the medium and create a tradition of something new. My work over the last two decades has experienced quite an evolution, that from a representational artist to an instinctive artist. Where my early sculptures were modeled in a traditional manner, my current work is more abstract and serves as a metaphor for the human condition in a solitary, introspective form. As for my furniture designs, I would agree with Warhol when he said, “The line between art and design is often blurred. I float between sculpture and functional pieces incorporating similar images into each.” Functional art, as a result, seems to be a more appropriate title. My thought process in producing a new work is essentially a planned accident. I begin with a general concept in mind, but whether I end up with that concept is not important. A work in process has a mind of its own and can take you down a totally unexpected but more satisfying path.

Collectors: Personal Collections Mr. Alec Baldwin, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. George Brett, Kansas City, MO Ms. Carol Burnett, Los Angeles, CA Ms. Lily Chao, Hong Kong, China Ms. Ellen DeGeneres, Los Angeles, CA Mr. Fred Dryer, Los Angeles, CA Prince Fizel, Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Mr. & Mrs. Tom Hanks, New York, NY Prince & Princess of Hanover, London, England Mr. Ron Howard, Los Angeles, CA Mr. Lamar Hunt, Dallas, TX Mr. & Mrs. Emeril Lagasse, New Orleans, LA and New York, NY Mr. Carl Lewis, Los Angeles, CA Mr. & Mrs. Wayne Newton, Las Vegas, NV Mr. Jack Nicholson, Los Angeles, CA Mr. Daniel Powter, Los Angeles, CA Mr. & Mrs. Jay Pritzker, Chicago, IL Mr. & Mrs. Ray Romano Malibu, CA Mr. & Mrs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Malibu, CA Mr. & Mrs. Frank Sinatra, Los Angeles, CA Mr. & Mrs. Peter Sloan, Kansas City, MO Ms. Danielle Steel, San Francisco, CA Mr. Lynn Swan, Pittsburgh, PA among others.

Public Collections and Installations: Bergstrom Foundation, Neenah, WI Buck O’Neil Foundation, Kansas City, MO Children’s Fountain, Kansas City, MO Cleveland Chiropractic College, Kansas City, MO Firefighter’s Memorial, Kansas City, MO Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL Kauffman Memorial Gardens, Kansas City, MO Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO Korea and Vietnam Memorial, Wyandotte Co., KS The Lyric Opera, Kansas City, MO Middletown Regional Hospital, Middletown, OH Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Kansas City, MO Pinellas Sports Authority, St. Petersburg, FL Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS Reverend John Williams Memorial, Kansas City, MO United Nations Peace Plaza, Independence, MO Schuster Performing Arts Center, Dayton, OH St. Mary’s College, Omaha, NE Vietnam Memorial, Richmond, MO United Nations, New York, NY University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO University of Oregon, Eugene, OR among others.

Corporate Collections: American Century Investors, Kansas City, MO Bloomingdale’s, New York, NY Columbia Pictures, Los Angeles, CA Dayton Hudson, Minneapolis, MN Four Seasons Hotel, Hawaii Honeywell, Minneapolis, MN The Kauffman Foundation, Kansas City, MO Marshall Fields, Chicago, IL Merrill Companies, Overland Park, KS Nieman Marcus, Dallas, TX Novatel Hotels, Seoul, Korea Paramount Pictures, Los Angeles, CA Properties Group, Cary, NC Quaker Oats, Chicago, IL Royal Sporting House, Singapore Turtle Wax, Chicago, IL Warner Brothers Studio, London, England among others. TV, Radio and Film

Appearances: Changing Lanes – Paramount Pictures Cruel Intentions – Sony Pictures Homes Across America – HGTV In Treatment – HBO It’s Complicated – Universal Pictures Law & Order: Criminal Intent – NBC Marketplace – National Public Radio Obsessed – Screen Gems A Perfect Murder – Warner Brothers Pictures Ransom – Touchstone Pictures Top Design – Bravo True Lies – 20th Century Fox Pictures among others.