Explorations in Unconventional Media

The Creations of Dr. John Daab

Talk to John Daab about art for any length of time and the conversation will traverse from Greek philosophy and crime investigation to green construction and the importance of inspiring art appreciation in the coming generations.

His career and interests are likewise eclectic, intelligent and full of surprises. And if the name seems familiar to you, you are right. John is a regular columnist for Fine Art Registry®, contributing articles on urban architecture, sculpture and green construction (read them here). We thought it was high time we focused the attention on his own creative endeavors!

Sculptor, John Daab. (FAR® Registered Artist) Photograph by Irene Daab.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, John now calls Princeton, NJ home. According to his official FAR® biography, "He began work as carpenter apprentice, and went on to become a carpenter, superintendent, high rise builder and construction manager exec., a professor of construction at NYU, owner of two schools, sculptor, writer, business consultant, educational course and program developer."

A lifelong seeker of knowledge, John recently attained his Doctorate degree in Business Administration and is a Certified Fraud Examiner specializing in art and forgery research, and a Certified Forensics Consultant from the American College of Forensic Examiners International.

He holds memberships in a diverse array of organizations, including the National Sculpture Society, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute.

His new book, the Art Fraud Protection Handbook, was recently published and he is working on a new one entitled Forensic Science and Fine Art Authentication.

Connection, by artist John Daab. (FAR® ID #33620)

Square, by artist John Daab. (FAR® ID #33622)

Bluebird, by artist John Daab. (FAR® ID #70163)

The Choice of Unconventional Media

John's medium of choice is sculpted concrete. "I use reinforced concrete but most of my works are combinations of various media combined with concrete." He admires abstract sculptors such as Richard Serra, Goss and Grooms.

About his unique approach to art and his creative process, John says, "Education is power, enlightenment, joy, and lifelong. Although carpentry is not recognized as an art form it really is. Taking wood and manipulating it to a shape or form beyond its present state comes close to Aristotle's concept of sculpting.

"As a carpenter building forms for concrete foundations, you had to take pieces of wood and create forms for a shape opposite from the form created. After being introduced to art from college courses, it became apparent that I was creating art in the form of concrete foundation shapes. There was a satisfaction in the completed product. The important point here was that the process did not follow an IKEA step one to step five to build. The carpenter built it, changed it, rebuilt it, changed it, and so on until it looked like the shape desired."

John creates, not with a view to financial benefit, but for the satisfaction of the process. And as important is his role of introducing the world of art to his grandsons and granddaughters.

"My oldest grandson, Jackson, is nine and has been involved in art since he was two. His works are displayed in our gallery. My role as an artist is one of transmission. My goal is to transmit the love and enjoyment of art, and the creative process to my children and grandchildren."

He also very intent on developing new works and new ways of making sculpted concrete art available. He is just now beginning to create reinforced concrete sculpture on a small scale and as wearable jewelry art. He is contemplating producing other lines of wearable art, too.

Triangle, by artist John Daab. (FAR® ID #33623)

Meet the Slide Family, by artist John Daab. (FAR® ID #33624)

Fatso Crowned, by artist John Daab. (FAR® ID #14748)

The Fine Art Registry® Connection

John discovered Fine Art Registry® in 2007. "As a Certified Fraud Examiner, one of my articles about art forgery and fraud appeared in Fraud magazine. I was contacted by a CFE member who wanted to start an art authentication enterprise. I researched the concept on the Internet and found that FAR® was already running with it. At that point I began registering my works."

Now John tags and registers each work as it is completed. "The advantages of tagging and registering are that your works can be viewed online, the tag number establishes provenance, and provide certainty that the works were created by the artist and not some forger."

"FAR, besides providing provenance to an artist's works, is dedicated in weeding out not only bogus art but those who are involved in questionable selling and authenticating processes. FAR represents one of the few places where Diogenes can take a break - he can be comfortable in finding honest people occupying an honest site."

Size Counts, by artist John Daab. (FAR® ID #14744)

Sliver, by artist John Daab. (FAR® ID #14750)

See John's FAR gallery and read his fascinating articles on the sculpted concrete process.

Artist's FAR Registered Pieces | Entire FAR Portfolio › | Sales Gallery › | Biography ›

— by Georgianna Lane  |  October 1, 2009  |  Print Version - PDF

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