Alex Palkovich
Sculptor, FNSSSculpting has always been Alex's passion; he began at the age of six years-old and has not stopped since. Alex has lived and worked on three continents and in five countries. He first came to the United States in the late 1990s and worked as a Managing Director at GE, Florence and then later as GE's Global MRI Operations. Despite a busy schedule, Alex continued to work on his art, learn and take on new sculptural challenges. Since his retirement, Alex has fulfilled his life's dream of working as a full-time sculptor. He has established a name for himself as a specialist in portraiture, monuments and reliefs and recently opened a new studio in Florence, SC where he also teaches classes.
Alex has been very involved in the redevelopment of the city's downtown and bringing art to the community. He received the South Carolina Volunteer of the Year Award in 2010 for his help founding the Art Trail Gallery, which provides local artists a free exhibition space and has been pivotal in the revitalization of the area. Alex was also involved in the foundation of Florence veteran's park and has artwork in various civic centers around the town, including the Florence Public Library, a portrait of Senator Hugh Leatherman in the newly established Florence Performing Arts Center, and a larger than life-size, full figure of the university founder, Sir Doug Smith, at Francis Marion University.
"There is no life without sculpture. Everything is sculpture. The building in which you dwell, the chair upon which you sit, the car that you drive — all is sculpture."
Alex Palkovich
Alex has made a study of portraiture as a science of engineering and psychology as much as he has examined it as an art form. "Everyone," he explains, "can recognize a face from a single, small feature; yet, all features must be recognizable to everyone in order to make a face". Thus, even in his most monumental works Alex takes special care to give his figures portrait-quality countenances that are true-to-life, expressive, and forthcoming. "I will not leave a portrait until it breathes and it speaks," he reveals. A fact that is self-evident in the popularity of his work and in the customers who have commissioned more than one piece from him for their collections.
In 2010, Alex became the first South Carolinian elected to the National Sculpture Society. For two consecutive years now, Alex was selected to participate in the NSS exclusive Annual Awards Exhibition. In 2013, he won the People's Choice Award for his work "On the Way to the Market". He is also a member of the Oxford Arts Society and the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA), both in the United Kingdom. He also served as Vice President of the RBSA board for three years and has been selected to judge the 35th Annual Figure Modeling Competition at Brookgreen Gardens. Alex's work can be found in private and public collections around the world.
In 2022 his WWII monument was awarded prizes in the US:
- 1st place for public park monument in 2022 by the American Institute of Commemorative Art.
- 1st place public monuments and Best in Show for the Monument Builders of North America at their annual convention. This is the industry's largest organization comprising over 550 monument companies.