Since 1970, Charles Simonds has worked as a self-styled "archaeologist," creating imaginary, prehistoric "civilizations" in clay. Like all the artist's work, Brick Blossom bears provocative implications which belie its small size. In the center of the work, a man-made brick structure erupts from beneath a dusty, clay field.

This interest in architectural and biological themes is found throughout Simonds' work. In delineating the evolution of a particular civilization, the artist often works in series, tracing geological and cultural developments as well as those in architecture and biology.

A native of New York and a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Simonds received an M.F.A. from Rutgers University in 1969. Influenced by the public sculpture of Claes Oldenburg, and particularly by the earthworks of Robert Smithson, Simonds began to install small dwellings in decaying structures on New York's Lower East Side. Simonds supported himself during the 1970s through the award of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council for the Arts, and from the West German government.

Source: Bulletin, March-April, 1984.