Jim Gary

Jim Gary (March 17, 1939 – January 14, 2006) was an American sculptor best known for his large, colorful dinosaur creations assembled from discarded automobile parts. Born in Sebastian, Florida, he was raised in Colts Neck, New Jersey, which he considered his hometown, and later resided in Farmingdale. Gary’s path into art was unconventional; he developed his signature style by transforming hardware, machine parts, and tools into whimsical monumental works, often finished with automotive paint or left to develop a natural patina. His metal of choice was painted steel, and he frequently incorporated stained glass into his sculptures and life figures.

A key collaborator was the modernist sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, who admired Gary’s life-sized figure *Universal Woman*—composed entirely of hardware—at a 1960s sidewalk show in New York. Gary is the only sculptor ever invited to present a solo exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, which opened in 1990. Critics compared his playful dinosaur skeletons to Pablo Picasso’s *Bull’s Head*. His work appeared in *The Washington Post*, *The New York Times*, and *Time*, and a video tribute aired on ABC News. He was listed in *Who Was Who in American Art*. Gary’s legacy endures as a populist artist who delighted both children and curators, with the *Asbury Park Press* calling him an icon in the arts.