Gary Tillery | |
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| Born | August 6, 1947 |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Writer, Sculptor |
Gary Tillery is an American writer and artist known for his biographies focusing on the spiritual lives of famous figures, and for his public sculptures. His 2009 book, The Cynical Idealist, was named the official book of the 2010 John Lennon Tribute in New York City, [1] and he created the centerpiece sculpture of the Chicago Vietnam Veterans Memorial, dedicated in 2005. [2]
Gary Glenn Tillery was born in Phoenix, Arizona on August 6, 1947, the son of a farmer who had brought the family west from Oklahoma after they survived a tornado. [3]
The intensifying Vietnam War interrupted his higher education. He joined the United States Air Force and was deployed to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, near Saigon. [4] His arrival happened to coincide with the "Mini-Tet" Offensive of May 1968, the month that proved to be the deadliest of the entire war for U.S. forces. [5] During his first few weeks, the base came under repeated attack by 122mm rockets and mortar fire. [4] His experiences in the war would serve as background for his book Darkling Plain, an experimental novel constructed of interlinked short stories. [6]
After his military service, Tillery returned to Phoenix and attended Arizona State University. He received a bachelor's degree in Latin American Studies in 1972, and went on to Thunderbird School of Global Management, where in 1973 he earned a master's degree in International Management.
After moving to the Chicago area, he co-founded The Townsend Agency, Ltd. in 1979, and worked as an advertising executive for 17 years.
Throughout his time in the business world he felt drawn to create literature and art. One of his short stories, "Dragon with a Broken Wing," was selected by Ray Bradbury to receive first prize in a contest honoring the famous native of Waukegan, Illinois. [7] In 1996, Tillery resigned his position as chairman of The Townsend Agency to pursue his twin interests of writing and sculpture.
As a writer, his best-known work is The Cynical Idealist: A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon. The book, which grew out of his 2005 article for Philosophy Now magazine, [8] was the first to examine John Lennon as a man of ideas, exploring his impact on the world as a consequence of his spiritual growth and his self-generated humanist philosophy. Reviewer Grady Harp observed: "Without resorting to puffery or hero worship, Tillery places Lennon's accomplishments with the arts as well as with the framework of political upheaval of his day to reveal a man who will be remembered not only for his prodigious talent, but also for his influence on philosophical thinking." [9] The Cynical Idealist was selected as the official book of the 2010 John Lennon Tribute in New York City, [1] and subsequently translated into German, French, Portuguese, and Danish.
Based on its success, Quest Books published Tillery's Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison in 2011, [10] and The Seeker King: A Spiritual Biography of Elvis Presley in 2013. The latter was selected as a featured book by the Patheos Book Club. [11] His other writings include Darkling Plain, inspired by his recollections of the Vietnam War, The Roots of the Wind, a novel drawn from his experiences on a scientific expedition to the Western Rift Valley in Africa, three comedic detective novels, three volumes of poetry, and Yeshua, My Beloved, an ambitious experiment in "novelized history," being a fact-based novel about Jesus derived from the research of hundreds of Bible scholars. [12]
In 2000, Tillery's sculpture They Also Serve was accepted by the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum for its permanent collection. [13] As a result of his connection with the museum, he was selected to create the centerpiece sculpture in the Chicago Vietnam Veterans Memorial [14] at Wabash Plaza, dedicated in 2005. [15] In 2004 he created the bust of Steve Allen for the Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood. [16]
Affiliated with the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt Amrany from its founding in 1992, Tillery joined the studio team to create several prominent outdoor sculptures, including Luis Aparicio at U.S. Cellular Field, [17] T. Denny Sanford at the Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, [18] and Ray Kroc and Ronald McDonald in downtown Chicago. [19] He was co-sculptor, with Omri Amrany, on the statue of Pat Tillman for the Arizona Cardinals football team, [20] and lead sculptor on the 2-ton, 9-foot statue of Jerry Colangelo for Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona, erected only a few blocks from Tillery's childhood home. [21]
On Veterans Day 2018 his 14-foot work, Defenders of Peace, was dedicated at the College of Lake County in Illinois. [22] In July 2019 his bronze sculpture of Johnny Appleseed was unveiled in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. John Chapman (better known as Johnny Appleseed) was a resident of Fort Wayne in the final years of his life, and died there in March 1845. [23]
Tillery's life-size bronze statue of Richard G. Hatcher was dedicated in October 2019 in Gary, Indiana. Hatcher was notable for being the first African-American to be elected mayor of a major U.S. city. [24]
Tillery was lead sculptor on the bronze sculpture of Pete DeBusk, chairman of the Lincoln Memorial University Board of Trustees, which was unveiled in October 2021 in Harrogate, Tennessee. [25]
The Tillery-designed memorial for the American Legion post in Lake Forest, Illinois--a 13-ton structure of granite and white bronze to honor Lake Forest residents who died serving during the nation's wars--was dedicated in September 2023. Tillery wrote a poem to the fallen which was read at the event. [26]
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, commonly called the Vietnam Memorial, is a U.S. national memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The two-acre (8,100 m2) site is dominated by two black granite walls engraved with the names of those service members who died or remain missing as a result of their service in Vietnam and South East Asia during the war. The Memorial Wall was designed by American architect Maya Lin and is an example of minimalist architecture. The Wall, completed in 1982, has since been supplemented with the statue Three Soldiers in 1984 and the Vietnam Women's Memorial in 1993.
Three Soldiers is a bronze statue by Frederick Hart. Unveiled on Veterans Day, November 11, 1984, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., it is part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial commemorating the Vietnam War. It was the first representation of an African American on the National Mall.
Frederick Elliott Hart was an American sculptor. The creator of hundreds of public monuments, private commissions, portraits, and other works of art, Hart is most famous for Ex Nihilo, a part of his Creation Sculptures at Washington National Cathedral, and The Three Servicemen, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
General Philip Sheridan is a bronze sculpture that honors Civil War general Philip Sheridan. The monument was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, best known for his design of Mount Rushmore. Dedicated in 1908, dignitaries in attendance at the unveiling ceremony included President Theodore Roosevelt, members of the President's cabinet, high-ranking military officers and veterans from the Civil War and Spanish–American War. The equestrian statue is located in the center of Sheridan Circle in the Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The bronze statue, surrounded by a plaza and park, is one of eighteen Civil War monuments in Washington, D.C., which were collectively listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The sculpture and surrounding park are owned and maintained by the National Park Service, a federal agency of the Interior Department.
Julie Rotblatt-Amrany is an American sculptor and painter, whose work explores the resurgence of the figure in modern art.
The statue of Michael Jordan, also known as The Spirit, is a bronze sculpture by Omri Amrany and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany that has been located inside the United Center in the Near West Side community area of Chicago since March 1, 2017. The sculpture was originally commissioned after Jordan's initial retirement following three consecutive NBA championships and unveiled prior to the Bulls taking residence in their new home stadium the following year. Depicting Basketball Hall of Fame member Michael Jordan and unveiled outside the United Center on November 1, 1994, the 12-foot (3.7 m) sculpture stands atop a 5-foot (1.52 m) black granite base. Although not critically well received, the statue has established its own legacy as a meeting place for fans at subsequent Bulls championships and as a rallying point for Chicago Blackhawks fans.
Erection is a 1971 short film by John Lennon and Yoko Ono with music by Ono.
Fathers Theodore Hesburgh and Edmund Joyce is an outdoor statue on the University of Notre Dame campus. Located on the South side of the Hesburgh Library facing the reflecting pool, the sculpture was designed and built by artist Lou Cella, a member of the Rotblatt-Amrany Fine Art Studio, and is currently owned by the University of Notre Dame.
General John Logan Memorial, also known as the John Alexander Logan Monument, is an outdoor bronze sculpture commemorating John A. Logan by sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Alexander Phimister Proctor, in a setting by architect Stanford White. Installed in Chicago's Grant Park, in the U.S. state of Illinois, the statue and pedestal sit atop a memorial mound, with a ceremonial stairway leading to the summit.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a war memorial in Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois, dedicated on November 11, 2005.
In late August 1967, the English rock band the Beatles attended a seminar on Transcendental Meditation (TM) held by TM creator Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at Bangor Normal College in Bangor, Wales. The visit attracted international publicity for Transcendental Meditation and presented the 1960s youth movement with an alternative to psychedelic drugs as a means to attaining higher consciousness. The Beatles' endorsement of the technique followed the band's incorporation of Indian musical and philosophical influences in their work, and was initiated by George Harrison's disillusionment with his visit to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district in early August.
A statue of basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by artists Julie Rotblatt-Amrany and Omri Amrany is installed outside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, in the U.S. state of California. The bronze sculpture was unveiled in 2012. It depicts Abdul-Jabbar shooting his patent skyhook shot. Abdul-Jabbar was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association from 1975 to 1989.
A statue of basketball player Magic Johnson by Omri Amrany and Gary Tillery is installed outside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, in the U.S. state of California. The sculpture was unveiled in 2004.
A bronze statue of Jerry West by Omri Amrany and Julie Rotblatt Amrany is installed outside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, in the U.S. state of California. The sculpture was unveiled in 2011.
A statue of sportscaster Chick Hearn by Julie Rotblatt Amrany and Omri Amrany is installed outside Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, in the U.S. state of California. The bronze and steel sculpture was unveiled in 2010. An empty chair is provided next to the statue to allow people to sit in for a picture taking.
The Los Angeles Kings Monument is a monument by artists Itamar Amrany, Julie Rotblatt Amrany, and Omri Amrany, installed outside Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. It is located near the statue of Kobe and Gianna Bryant.
The Kobe Bean Bryant Memorial Statue, is a work of public art by American artist and sculptor Julie Rotblatt-Amrany. The 19-foot bronze sculpture of the American basketball player Kobe Bryant was commissioned by Bryant's widow, Vanessa Bryant in her husband's honor, and stands on a plinth in front of the Crypto.com Arena located in downtown Los Angeles. The statue was unveiled in 2024. The sculpture is the first of the three memorials planned to stand outside the Lakers downtown arena.
The Kobe and Gianna Bryant Memorial Statue is a work of public art designed by American visual artist Karon Davis and created by the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt-Amrany. The bronze sculpture of the American basketball player Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant was commissioned by Vanessa Bryant, the wife of Kobe and mother of Gianna. It stands on a base located near Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. The statue was unveiled in 2024.
The Ryne "Ryno" Sandberg Statue is a work of public art by American sculptor Lou Cella and the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt-Amrany, depicting American baseball Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg in his Chicago Cubs uniform. The bronze sculpture is located in the U.S. state of Illinois, at Gallagher Way, a park outside of Wrigley Field, Chicago.
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