Is Bruce Springsteen sculpture a beauty or a bust? (2011)

This story originally appeared in the Asbury Park Press on July 17, 2011.

Bruce Springsteen, red bandanna around his forehead, stares intently, as if lost in thought.

He has high cheekbones, a prominent nose and a muscular neck.

At least, that’s how the Manasquan-based, Princeton-raised sculptor Stephen Zorochin sees him.

“There he is,” Zorochin says, patting the larger-than-life, bronze-finished head of Springsteen. “There’s the man.”

Zorochin’s bust of Springsteen, titled “Bruce Springsteen: Soulful Humanitarian,” is on display at Pier Village in Long Branch, next to the boardwalk at Laird Avenue. Another cast of the bust is in Kennedy Park, off Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park.

The temporary displays are part of “Sculptoure,” an annual outdoor sculpture exhibit organized by the Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts and the Arts Coalition of Asbury Park. Zorochin’s sculptures will be on display through Sept. 11.

Zorochin’s work has elicited strong responses from passers-by. One man, Mike Gordon, gave the sculpture a peck on the cheek and then posted a photo of the kiss on Twitpic.

Others have been less enraptured.

Snapshots of the bust have appeared on many websites, and readers’ comments have been, shall we say, candid. People generally don’t hold back on anonymous posts.

Some people say, for starters, that the sculpture does not resemble Springsteen.

Put on a pedestal

Others are under the false impression that the sculptures are permanent public monuments, plunked into place under cover of darkness by sinister forces in the cities’ respective governments. They worry that Springsteen, who expressed relief when his hometown of Freehold reconsidered a proposal to erect a 10-foot-tall statue of its famous son back in 1999, will be annoyed or embarrassed by the unexpected presence of his big ol’ head on a pedestal.

Springsteen has not said anything about it, one way or the other, to the general public.

Zorochin, an amiable, idealistic guy unaccustomed to the Wild West nature of online comments, said that he was “taken aback” by the vitriol but does not begrudge anyone’s right to an opinion.

“That’s what’s beautiful about public art,” Zorochin says. “People just happen upon it, and they react to it.”

“I go out and polish the sculptures,” he adds, “and every time I do, people pose by it for pictures. I had some guy drive by on a Harley, and he goes, ‘Yo, is that the Boss?,’ and then he gave me the thumbs-up.”

Zorochin, a landscaper by trade, often sculpts in his driveway, scraping and pressing and shaping a basketball-sized lump of red clay. Kids on bicycles peer in curiosity as they go by.

The garage of Zorochin’s home is filled with portrait busts. Joining Springsteen are two meditative depictions of Jesus Christ and one of Jimi Hendrix, his head topped by an afro with snake-like coils.

A full-size bronze sculpture by Zorochin of fire captain John T. Dempster stands as a permanent memorial at the Dempster Fire Service Training Center, 350 Lawrence Station Road in Lawrenceville.

The artist, who usually gravitates toward his musical idols as subjects, says he worked hard to capture something of the much-loved captain’s spirit in the sculpture, and he is especially proud of it.

Zorochin never aims for photographic realism, preferring an allegorical approach.

“It should be as much a part of you as of your subject,” he says.

Zorochin, who is in his 50s, grew up in Princeton. He studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York and the Boston Museum School but did not graduate. He says he learned the most about art through an apprenticeship with Joe Brown, a professor of sculpture at Princeton University who also was the boxing coach.

Brown’s athletic side came through in his bronze sculptures, which have a sense of energy, motion and force.

Zorochin aspires to those qualities in his own work.

He acknowledges that some people find portrait busts inherently creepy because they are disembodied. His own pieces bristle with tension, due to their scope and their exaggerated lines.

“A lot of people will say it’s scary,” he says. “I call it strong.”

On view: Springsteen bust in Asbury Park and Long Branch, through Sept. 11; stephenzorochin.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen: Is sculpture a beauty or bust, 2011