About Charlie
ARTISTS STATEMENT
I have long contemplated the undefined boundary between fine art, craft and design,
and what exactly makes one an artist. The overwhelming majority of the objects I have
made over my career have been commissioned works designed by me or have been collaborative efforts with other artists/designers. My commissioned ironwork designs fit the vision of my client without compromising my own aesthetic. I have always felt myself an artist, and regard all of these works as my artwork, as well as my sculpture and painting. I find 19th-century and early 20th-century riveted and bolted iron structures most beautiful. In my artwork, I often explore the transformation of structural steel into organic forms. All of my work is entirely from my own hands. My lifetime of working with a broad variety of materials has given me the ability to visualize a work of art without being constrained by any consideration as to how to make it.
ARTIST BIO
Charlie Spademan is an artist living in Montclair, NJ. His focus is primarily on
ironwork, particularly on hand forging. He attended the Cleveland Institute of Art for
four years from 1974 to 1978, then movedto New York and embedded himself in the East Village music and art scene of the late70’s and 80’s. He moved to Montclair in 1995 and has focused on hand-forging architectural ironwork, as well as creating objects in a broad variety of other materials He has numerous commissioned works throughout New Jersey and New York.