Reinhard Skoracki launches his sculpted figures against a backdrop of current or historical drama. He believes that we are caught in the social and political views of our time, having no choice but to witness the swirl of that time’s passing within and around us. Skoracki’s work illustrates, with a lightly cynical humour or satirical twist, the essence of being human. Skoracki emigrated from Germany to Canada in the early 1990s. He completed a Diploma (With Distinction) at ACAD in 1996, then graduated with a BFA (With Distinction) at the University of Calgary in 1997. Although known for his “tabletop
melodramas”, Skoracki has also completed several large scale commissions including an outdoor piece honouring a donor for the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation in Edmonton; a 17 foot tall outdoor sculpture of the University of Calgary; and two multimedia installations for Alberta Investment Management Corporation in Edmonton.
Skoracki has exhibited internationally at NordArt, the largest exhibition of contemporary art in Europe (Germany, 2015); Liu Haisu Art Museum (Shanghai, China, 2008); Toyamura International Sculpture Biennale (Japan, 2007); Museum of Fine Arts, (Ostrava, Czech Republic, 2007); and WG Kunst in Amsterdam. Recent Canadian group exhibitions include: Kurbatoff Gallery, Vancouver (2012); Artists From Coast to Coast, Hollander York Gallery, Toronto (2009-10); Westward Ha, Triangle Gallery (2008); The Moorings Gallery in Nova Scotia (2007). Selected solo exhibitions include: Stories, Kurbatoff Gallery, Vancouver (2013); Detours, Herringer Kiss Gallery (2011); Floating, Herringer Kiss Gallery (2009); Glimpse Into The Present, Prairie Art Gallery, Grande Prairie (2006); Es ist seltsam im Nebel zu wandern, Ludwig Windhorst Haus, Lingen, Germany (2001); Pull the Plug, The Water is Boiling, McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown, Ohio (2000). Skoracki’s work has been published in New Art International (1998); Artful Jesters by Nicholas Roukes (2003); and The Sculpture Reference Illustrated by Arthur Williams (2005).
