Jack Dowd (born 1938) American, Composite Chef Statue. This is a large sculpture of The Singing Chef by Jack Dowd, a Sarasota-based artist who creates paintings and sculptures of artists, celebrities, and everyday people with avery human-like feel to them, and his sculpture of The Singing Chef has a light, playful touch to it. It was made from gypsum cement in 2009 and comes on a large wooden base. Born in New York in 1938, Jack was inspired by his father and began sketching andd rawing at an early age. He started sculpting in the ’70s, when he lived in Plainfield, Vermont. He began with a chainsaw and blocks of wood, then started working in clay because it was more flexible: he used wire mesh to build a form, then molded the clay around it and made a model, turned that into a rubber mold, and cast bronze or gypsum cement figures from the mold, and his sculptures combine avant-garde and folk art together. The artist has a private studio called Moon River in Sarasota and has had many solo exhibitions sponsored by museums and art centers across the country, including the Florida State Museum of Fine Art, Jacksonville’s Museum of Modern Art, and the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, which drew 40,000 visitors and was the best attended opening in the museum’s history. The figure is signed by chefs from the Ritz Carlton, Cafe L’Europe, and other restaurants in Sarasota.
Attached to black base.
Size: 69 1/2 x 24 x 23 in.
Jack Dowd (born 1938) is an American sculptor based in Sarasota, Florida, recognized for his life-sized, often humorous and socially aware figurative works depicting everyday people and cultural icons. After a varied early career—including serving as a Marine, teaching high school, and owning bars in New York and Vermont—he relocated to Sarasota in 1984 and began focusing seriously on sculpture. His process often involves creating a metal skeleton, layering wire and clay to build the figure, then casting in materials like gypsum, resin, or sometimes bronze. Dowd’s work is distinguishable for its blend of folk-art sensibility with detailed character observation—whether portraying a butler serving a tray, a biker at a bar, or a tribute to Andy Warhol. His exhibition “Last Call,” a full-sized tavern installation populated by sculpted figures, exemplifies how he embeds narrative, place, and social commentary in his art, and his works continue to be shown in museums and sought after by collectors.
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