Murray Moss & Franklin Getchell presents Studio Job's masterwork, Robber Baron (the complete Suite) @ Moss

Studio Job's Robber Baron (the complete Suite)
tales of power, corruption, art and industry, cast in bronze

In May 2007, Moss previewed the Cabinet—the first fully realized piece from the Suite of five elements which comprise Studio Job’s ambitious masterwork, Robber Baron. The four additional pieces—Jewel Safe, Table, Standing Lamp and Mantle Clock—at the time as yet unrealized, were presented as drawings. One year later, we are proud to present Robber Baron, the complete Suite in polished, patinated, gilded and painted cast bronze.

Magnificent in scale, exceptionally finely detailed, with precision mechanical movements where required, and incorporating deeply carved iconographic reliefs, these works are guild-like in their master craftsmanship, each taking approximately one year to complete.

Their mirror finish reflecting the outrageous excesses of America's 19th century tycoons and Russia's new oligarchs, these surreal, highly-expressive furnishings, each a complex composition of multiple visual elements, represent an interior belonging to a powerful industrial leader, or their heirs. With clouds of pollution belching from towering smoke stacks, missiles and falcons and gas masks, warplanes and wrenches adorning golden surfaces, Robber Baron celebrates and shames both Art and Industry.

- Moss


Cabinet: This polished bronze cabinet, inspired by a 17th century armoire by Andre-Charles Boulle, in the Wallace Collection, London, is produced in a limited edition of five pieces.

Standing Lamp: A patinated bronze floor lamp in which three important icons of architecture - the Parthenon, the Empire State Building and Saint Peter’s Basilica - merge into one. The Zeppelin docked at the pinnacle symbolizes technological failure, and references the Empire State Building, whose top spire was originally intended as a mooring for Zeppelin airships. When illuminated, the hundreds of windows glow, diffused by a hand-blown frosted glass interior. The light bulbs can be changed by lifting the polished bronze ‘cloud’.

Table: A patinated bronze “factory”, whose architecture is derived from interpretations of various early 20th century works, including the AEG factory of Peter Behrens, the Battersea Power Station in London, and the Neo-Classical architecture of Albert Speer. The four chimneys produce a “polluted cloud” of polished bronze, which becomes the open-work tabletop.

Jewel Safe: A patined bronze ‘safe’ with a ‘Jack-in-the-Box’ popping up out of the craggy top. The polished bronze head is colored with oil-based pigments, highlighting the collar, nose and other features. The lock mechanism is operated by turning the clown’s nose, and the door hinge employs a ball bearing mechanism.

Mantle Clock: A patinated bronze pedestal clock supported by gilded oil barrels atop a model of the Florentine Galleria degli Uffizi, with Robber Baron reliefs. The dial of the clock is inspired by London’s Big Ben, circled by a futile railway running endless circles on a rocky landscape. The clock face can be shut with cast bronze stable doors. On top of the clock sits a Neo-Classical ‘dream house’, partially shrouded by a cloud.