Procession, wood/paint,
25″x9″x15.5
Artist Bio
Born in 1946 in Reno, Nevada, Robert Brady is an American sculptor known for his expressive, elongated figures that merge the human, animal, and spiritual. He first discovered ceramics in high school and later earned a BFA from California College of the Arts (1969) and an MFA from UC Davis (1975), studying under Robert Arneson during the height of the Bay Area ceramics movement.
Brady began his career creating hand-built clay vessels and figurative sculptures before transitioning to wood and mixed media in the 1980s. His signature works—totemic, abstract, and archetypal—blend influences from tribal art, mythologies, and folk traditions. Often combining carved wood with clay, straw, wire, or found materials, his sculptures have a primal presence, simultaneously delicate and powerful.
He taught for nearly 40 years at California State University, Sacramento, where he influenced generations of artists. His work has been exhibited internationally, with pieces held in major collections including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, SFMOMA, Oakland Museum of California, Crocker Art Museum, and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
Brady continues to live and work in Berkeley, California, where his art remains grounded in transformation, memory, and material presence.
