Connie Mississippi, American born 1941. Smithsonian Renwick Museum, Washington, DC
Shoal (2003); limba and shedua.
John Grade, American born 1970. Smithsonian Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC
Limba and shedua are West African hardwoods here formed into bead shapes.
Radiolarian Vessel VII, English sycamore with silver, texture paste, and acrylic ink, 2004.
Louise Hibbert born England 1972. Smithsonian Renwick Museum, Washington, DC
Stone Circle, jarrah burl on steel base, 2006
Robyn Horn, American born 1951. Smithsonian Renwick, Washington, DC
Untitled (Woodcut on Old Doors) (Mao with Leaders), 2006. Zhang Huan, Chinese born 1965. Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC
Part of a series called the Memory Door series, the artist enlarged and pasted photos from the time of the Cultural Revolution onto old doors. Local craftsmen assisted by carving the images into the wood.
There is a tradition in parts of China of affixing tributes to the door of one’s home to bring good luck.
Bad Hare Day, 2007; Macassar ebony, walnut, maple, various woods, and brass.
Silas Kopf, American born 1949. Smithsonian Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC
It’s Not A House, It’s A Home, 2007, English walnut.
Michael Hampel, American, ?date of birth. Smithsonian Renwick Museum, Washington, DC
Jack Whitten, 1939-2018. On display at the Met Breuer in 2018.
Lichnos is a fish wih poisonous spines. The fish is an ingredient in fishermen’s stew in Greece.
Jack Whitten sculpted as a private practice which he began in his annual stays on the island of Crete. He credited the fishermen of his acquaintance for teaching him about local woods. His sculptures were not displayed during his lifetime.
Soundsuit, 2010, dogwood twigs, wire, upholstery, basket and mannequin
Nick Cave, American born 1959. On exhibit at the Solomon R. Guggenheim in 2022
Sweet Spot, 2010, painted Jordan maple.
Dixie Biggs, American born 1956. Smithsonian Renwick Museum, Washington, DC
Echo, no date, spalted hackberry.
Ron Fleming, 1937-2021, American. Smithsonian Renwick Museum, Washington, DC
Untitled wood sculpture, 2011, maple.
Hunt Clark, American born 1969. Smithsonian Renwick Museum, Philadelphia
Ram, 2011, poplar, basswood, felt, glass and dye.
Daniel Forest Hoffman. On display at the Center for Art in Wood (now the Museum of Art in Wood), Philadelphia in 2011
Unknown artist; unknown woods; on display at the Center for Art in Wood (now Museum), in 2011
Wolf Spirit, 2011, turned and carved maple with pigment.
Ron Layport, American born 1942. Smithsonian Renwick Museum, Washington, DC
Cyclone, 2012, yellowheart, Gabon, ebony, holly, imbuia, black walnut, satine, old growth East India rosewood.
Hal Metlitzky born 1946 South Africa. Smithsonian Renwick Museum, Washington, DC
Szechwan Serenity, 2013, African sumac.
J. Paul Fennell, American born 1938. Smithsonian Renwick Museum of Art
Cut, flamed, spalted, 2013, maple.
Dan Webb, Amercan born 1965. Smithsonian Renwick Museum, Washington, DC
American Bison/Prairie House, 2015, red oak, cast iron, wool.
Emily White, no date of birth or nationality given. On view at the Arts League, Philadelphia in 2016
Emily White’s massive sculpture evokes the near-disappearance of the American bison, massive themselves and brought to near-extinction after the arrival of colonists in the west of the United States. This entailed the destruction of the economic life of the indigenous peoples of the United States.
The bison has now been restored although not to its old level.
The artist has united with her bison the building of houses on the prairies. These were also very sturdy and the way of life associated with their builders has withstood the passage of time and weather.
First in the Screen Door Sequence, 2015; oil on canvas on honeycomb aluminum support with a found object constructed of wood, metal, screen and hardware.
Jamie Wyeth, American born 1946. Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
Cell phone, ebony hinged with copper, 2015.
Carl Weissinger, American. Friend.
Middle Fork, cedar, 2015
John Grade, American born 1980 for the reopening of the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery in 2015. Photos by Ron Blunt.
The artist and his team made a plaster cast of a hemlock, 150 years old. They built a tree of a half million pieces of cedar. The hemlock was not harmed.
This creation was laid on the earth of the Cascade Mountains east of Seattle after the exhibition.
Shindig: willow pods woven and installed by Patrick Dougherty, American born 1945, at the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery, Washington DC, for its re-opening in the autumn of 2015 after renovation
The Big Bling, 2016, on the banks of the Schuylkill River, Philadelphia
pressure-treated laminated timbers, plywood, fiberglass, and gold leaf. 40 foot high
Martin Puryear, American born 1941.
Loaned to Philadelphia in 2017 by the artist, Matthew Marks Gallery, and Madison Square Park Conservancy, NY
Commissioned by Madison Square Park, New York, it was on temporary loan to Philadelphia. It rested along the right bank of the Schuylkill River, its head turned away from the Quaker city.
Woke, wood, acrylic. Charles Hall, born 1963, American.
In the artist’s collection loaned to Woodmere Museum, Philadelphia in 2016.
Exodus, 2016-17, wood, charcoal, pencil and ink. Diego H. Rodriguez Carrion, American born Puerto Rico 1995. Woodmere Museum of Art, Philadelphia
This triptych illustrates the desolation of the emigration of some Puerto Ricans to the United States. Nature overtakes the banana plantations cultivated with such care over generations.
Mixed Mosaic, pine, mimosa, oak, pear and cherry; not dated.
Philip Moulthrop, American born 1947. Smithsonian Renwick Museum, Washington, DC
No. 52S, wood and paint; 2016.
Leonardo Drew, American born 1961. The Joyner Giuffrida Collection on view at the Baltimore Art Museum in 2019
The artist says that he is not a found object artist. He creates his work in his studio.
He says: “We are connected to nature and not separate from it. We are all lived in and weathered. I do not distance myself from this process. I become the weather. It is important to understand the layering. the history, and the nature of nature…”
With You In A Moment, 2016, honey locust, ash, shovel and lawn mower handles.
Thomas Loeser, American born 1956. Smithsonian Renwick Museum, Washington, DC
Untitled, 2018; wooden table and carved eagle and 119 carved heads.
Nick Cave, American born 1959. On exhibit at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY in 2022
The artist’s explanation: “It’s inspired by the national anthem, specifically the phrase “the land of the free and the home of the brave” and is commenting on the colonialism of the past and who gets to sit at the table today — as well as whose backs decisions are made upon….”
Between the Rhymes, 2018, risograph on paper mounted on wood; and detail.
Illya Mousavijad, Iranian born 1996. Courtesy of the artist at the 78th Juried Show in 2019 at the Woodmere Museum of Art, Philaelphia
Nut Case, 2019, reclaimed wood, found hardware and hardware, industrial felt, 178 acorns.
Katie Hudnall, American born 1979. Smithsonian Renwick Museum of Art, Washington, DC
Five Conversations, 2019; found wooden doors, paint.
Lubaina Himid born 1954, Zanzibar. Whitney Museum of (North) American Art
Mido Chair, 2021, walnut veneer.
Jomo Tariku, American born Ethiopia 1968 and David Bohnhoff, America born 1968. On exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, 2021 and ongoing.
This chair is reminiscent of a hair comb widely used in the Horn of Africa.
