John DeAndrea’s hyperrealist sculptures can be considered the three-dimensional equivalent of the Photorealist paintings on view in this gallery. The other well-known sculptor to emerge from the Photorealist movement is Duane Hanson (1925–1996). Hanson predominantly used clothed models, adding an element of social commentary and cultural specificity to his work, while DeAndrea’s nudes seem more closely related to classical Greek sculpture.

DeAndrea’s lifelike figures are made from casts of professional models in an agonizingly slow and labor-intensive process. The artist starts by spreading a thin layer of rubber over the skin of his model to record its every detail. He often works in sections, so that the model can break out of the rubber mold with as little damage as possible to it, while the head is always cast separately. Once the model is cut out of the mold, the artist reinforces the rubber skin with several layers of plaster. To stiffen the plaster even further hemp is added until the mold is almost inflexible. Heated vinyl acetate is then poured into it to create the full figure. Usually, the body is solid, while the head is hollow for the eyes to be inserted, which DeAndrea creates himself instead of using commercial glass eyes. After the polyvinyl body parts are joined together, DeAndrea applies up to twenty-five layers of paint in certain areas of the body to achieve the translucency of human skin. To finish the work, the artist uses human hair, sometimes from wigs, which he places strand for strand into the vinyl.

DeAndrea came to prominence in the 1970s when his figures were included in major international exhibitions alongside other Pop artists who were rejecting the Abstract Expressionist artist-as-hero stance as well as the rigidity of the Minimalist grid by infusing art with images from popular culture. Today, DeAndrea’s sculpture seems surprisingly relevant to contemporary narrative sculpture by artists such as Robert Gober, Tony Matelli, Stephan Balkenhol, Charles Ray, and Judy Fox, perhaps due to their shared debt to Dada and Surrealism.