Sidney Gordin; Abstract Artist, Sculptor

Sidney Gordin, 77, an abstract artist and sculptor who taught at UC Berkeley. Gordin utilized geometric shapes and created wooden wall boxes that are used like building blocks. His work is in the permanent collections of New York’s Whitney Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Oakland Museum. In Los Angeles, Gordin exhibited at Newspace and Dilexi Gallery, and some of his pieces were bought for an ongoing display by Bank of America. The Russian-born Gordin studied at Cooper Union School of Art in New York, and taught art at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn College, the New School for Social Research and Sarah Lawrence College before joining the Berkeley faculty in 1958. Gordin retired from teaching in 1986, and in 1992 was a recipient of the Maggie Kuhn Award honoring role models over age 60. On Jan. 28 in Berkeley.