When we asked what his name was all they said was
"They call him Bernardo..."
MCB was walking the halls of the now defunct CPOP Detroit
and we had the pleasure of meeting and talking to
Bernardo Corman
He touched briefly on a piece he was working on called
CADDY CORNER
and we had no idea what he was talking about
until he hit us up about it a few months later
CADDY CORNER is now complete and delivered to it final
"rusting place"
its amazing salute to detroit sleds and we wanted to
hear more from the man who built it
Caddy Corner gets a few final adjustments at the GM Dealership in Kuwait CitySome of the grisley details of the CADDY CORNER
Total weight:
2+1/2 tons
Dimensions:
18 feet around the outside curve
Materials used:
Cast bronze shell tied to a welded steel cage underneath
Number of beers consumed over the course of project:
lol..oh jeez..lots..cheeseburgers too!
Current Owner of Caddy Corner:
Owns the largest GM dealership in the middle east
his family has had exclusive rights to distribute GM product in Kuwait since the '40's
Give us some insight to your past:
"My dad used to own a place in the 'gold coast' part of the near north side of chicago called 'Melvins'..he and his partners used to get in fistfights with the chicago cops because at the time sidewalk cafes weren't allowed. That law got changed in part because of Melvins. Alot of the production crew from Playboy hung out there because it was just a couple of blocks away from the Playboy building. My dad gave Hugh Hefner copies of 'The Great Dictator' and 'Modern Times' by Chaplin in 16mm sound at a time when Chaplin was still outlawed in this country."
I have a history of having a bad attitude..
my grade school teachers were always disappointed in me..
Interview with Bernardo Corman
Creator of the Caddy Corner
MCB: The Caddy Corner has to be one of the most unique and amazing pieces of metal work we have ever seen....give us the lowdown on what drove you to create this monster of a sculpture?
Bernardo Corman: I had been working for another sculptor in the area-he made a lot of religious iconography-the Mother Mary with Baby Jesus, Jesus crucified on the cross etc...I used to joke I worked at the Jesus Factory. Anyway, that situation was getting a little old and I had been aware for awhile that this client was somewhat well heeled. So I screwed up my courage and sent him an e-mail in which I proposed enlarging CaddyCorner up to like the 6 foot range. (I suggested Big Ass Buick too-just imagine if he'd gone for that one-lol) So he came back with the idea of making it lifesize! I was floored but I thought two things-the first was that that would be truly an amazing piece and the second was that I could pull it off since the foundry I'd been working with up til then had made numerous monumental sized things.
MCB: How long did you work on this project and describe any of the obstacles you may have encountered on the way to completion...
Bernardo Corman: It took about a year and a half to complete this project. One of the things I thought right away was that I wanted to use real parts from a '59 Cadillac to give the piece a higher level of detail than the small original had. So first I had to round up the parts and make molds of them. That part took months and it was winter when I was working on all that..I was freezing my ass off in my shop while I backfilled all the little holes in the grille and all the other parts I'd picked up through a contact from a Hemmings catalog. One problem with using real parts that I hadn't anticipated was that the original sculpture was somewhat compressed..and that had been transmitted to the oversized positive pieces of foam I was using as a buck. So there was a shitload of adjusting that had to occur to the waxes that came out of the molds I made of the car parts. I also had to firm up the surface of the styrofoam plug and after some discussion with the foundry people I started spreading a thin coat of spackling paste over everything and sanding it back..I dug out my drywall spreaders and that part of the project became like a giant, weirdly shaped drywall job-days and weeks of spreading and sanding, spreading and sanding..I would be coated with white dust at the end of each days work. (I did all the mold, wax and work to the plug by myself)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NILY4jBszN8
One thing I had agreed to with this was for a place to sit in it and engineering that was a real clusterfuck..(try finding hinges that'll lift something that weighs 80 pounds or so..) (I had to hire a machine shop to produce those and that was a real adventure unto itself) Not to mention an automotive upholstery shop to generate the cushions..
MCB: With the value of metals skyrocketing was this a project adversely affected by any market fluxuations?
Bernardo Corman: The owner of the foundry had wisely bought a lot of bronze when it was priced realistically.
MCB: You design objects in the inverse scale as well - tell us about some of the smaller creations that you have conjured up recently...
Bernardo Corman: I've been slowly building up a collection of gearshift knobs and I'm currently working on a small piece that involves a laughing buddha (one of my favorite little images) wearing a business suit standing in front of a '53 Cadillac that I've abstracted as only I can..(I won't spoil the surprise of that!)
MCB: The love of cars is so obvious in your work and when we 1st met at CPOP Detroit's Carnivora Show you were showing a number of pieces but in particular a very cool Mercilasaurus...we love that piece and would like for you to describe its creation and current whereabouts...
Bernardo Corman: Yeh I love old cars especially from the '50's..I really still consider myself an automotive artist, as unlikely a career path as that one is. Merckylasaurus started out as a small study I did in the mid 90's..maybe around 1995 or so. It had a little companion piece that involved a Volkswagen-I've attached a picture of them together-sorry its so small. Anyway when Les Barany invited me to be part of his book and related show I thought it would be a good time to enlarge that particular idea. So even though I was knee deep making the molds for the large CaddyCorner project I also spent time working on blowing up Merckylasaurus in time for the show in Detroit.
MCB: Fill us in on your studio and how often you come to Detroit for inspiration?
Bernardo Corman: Lol..well my shop is what I would call a 'man cave' a real one not the silly ones I see that have linoleum floors and neon signs hanging over a tiki bar..my shop is a jumbled up place with steel tables and lots of tools laying around-chop saws and welders and grinders and vices..(man needs a vice or two)..and of course I keep my record collection out there-I have a couple of thousand vinyls so when I work I can put some Led Zep or Hawkwind on and make the walls shake...yeh I need to get out to Detroit more often..you got a sofa I can crash on??
MCB: Give us your thoughts on detroit and its rise or demise as you see it
Bernardo Corman: Oooooh thats a big one..I don't know if I want to step into that one. I think Detroit will reinvent itself one way or another..it may not be fun or turn out the way people want or expect but it will survive.
MCB: If we ever stopped losing money at MOTORCITYBLOG and hit it big would you consider or have the time to knock us out a Lincoln Lounge?
If so what year and model would you like to attack for us?
Bernardo Corman: hahaha ....1956 or 57 is the only year Lincoln to have..a Continental or a Premiere..
Bernardo is currently working on (among other things) an extension of the caddycorner theme-this one is called 'CaddyConstrictor'
You can check all this and more and purchase cool daddio stuff at
CARNIVORA
