Ben Jackel’s latest masterpiece and his first bronze sculpture “Grandpa’s Knuckle Dusters, Bronze” is currently on view in our open air Skyroom. The work is a larger-than-life size representation of brass knuckles handed down to Jackel, which were used in combat during WWII.

In his statement, Jackel traces the original knuckles’ history, and why he felt so compelled to monumentally recreate them:

Several years ago, I became aware that the father of my Uncle Dave, John A. Gomolka, had been involved in the amphibious assault on the Island of Attu in May of 1943. I discovered this fact when Uncle Dave handed down to me a collection of artifacts that his dad had carried with him or recovered from that battlefield. One of these objects was an old set of brass knuckles.

I chose to create a monumental-sized sculpture of these knuckles for many reasons. The first time I noticed them in a formal sense was while watching a film and spinning them around my fingers. This object had been designed to interface with my hand; the connection I felt to it had been planned by its maker back in the 30s or 40s.

After realizing the aesthetic grace that this object contained, I immediately set out to explore and produce my own enlarged version. The use of scale is important in all of my work, but this one was a no-brainer for me. If this little piece of metal made a man so dangerous and powerful that it must be banned, then I wanted to make a bigger, more powerful version.

- Ben Jackel, May 2014

On view at L.A. Louver through June 28. 

Click here to view a short film of Ben Jackel in his studio.