Explorations in Wood: Selections from The Center for Art in Wood

The Center for Art in Wood is pleased to offer a traveling exhibition to museums and venues throughout the country entitled Explorations in Wood: Selections from The Center for Art in Wood. Curated by Andy McGivern, Curator of Exhibitions, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum.

The exhibition opened on December 2, 2018 at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin, travels to four venues and will return to the Center in March 2021.

Explorations in Wood: Selections from The Center for Art in Wood
Curator’s statement by Andy McGivern

Our dependence on – and love for – wood cannot be overstated. It’s integral to our very existence in a range of ways, encompassing our man-made environments as well as both utilitarian and decorative items. The organic qualities of wood, our ability to manipulate its shape, its abundance, and its renewable potential are among the reasons wood permeates our culture – including the art world. The seventy objects comprising Explorations in Wood are a small sample of the work held in the collection of Philadelphia’s Center for Art in Wood, gathered over a forty-year period.

These works stem from a love of wood and display a rich variety of wood types. Processes are varied, too, including wood-turned vessels as well as more sculptural forms. Many celebrate the natural beauty of wood, evident in rich warm-brown tones and assorted grain patterns, typical of materials gathered around the globe

While many of the artworks might beg to be touched due to the enticingly tactile nature of wood, it’s the design and form of each that were the basis for selection. Variety and handling also were criteria, noting that some artists, after maximizing the manipulative qualities of wood then use paint to highlight an object’s form. Others combine multiple wood types, creating forms with contrasting colors or manipulating shapes to expose varied natural and machined textures. These approaches and others highlight the diversity and unlimited potential of wood.

The Center for Art in Wood encourages an international roster of artists to not only explore the many facets of wood; the Center also continues to challenge artists to discover the inherent and dynamic possibilities of the medium.

Exhibiting Artists: Gianfranco Angelino, Italy; Mark Bishop, Tasmania; Ed Bosley, US; Miriam Carpenter, US; M. Dale Chase, US; Frank E Cummings, III, US; Mike Darlow, Australia; Ron David, Canada; Michael de Forest, US; Virginia Dotson, US; Jean-Francois Escoulen, France; Al Francendese, US; Dewey Garret, US; Malcolm Martin & Gaynor Dowling, UK; Andrew Gittoes, Australia; Michael N. Graham, US; Reed Hansuld, US; Stephen Hogbin, Canada; Michael Hosaluk, Canada; Todd Hoyer, US; Ted Hunter, Canada; William Hunter, US; Hans Joachim Weissflog, Germany; Amber Johnston, US; Ron Kent, US; Maria van Kesteren, Netherlands; Max Krimmel, US; Bud Latven, US; William Leete, US; Melvin Lindquist, US; Zina Manesa-Burloiu, Romania, & Adrian Segal, US; Thierry Martenon, France; Terry Martin, Australia; Hugh McKay, US; Gael Montgomerie, New Zealand; Ed Moulthrop, US; Rolly Munro, New Zealand; Liz & Michael O’Donnell, Scotland; Sean Ohrenich, US; William Patrick, US; Michael Peterson, US; Peter Petrochko, US; Hillary Pfiefer, US, Dennis Carr, US; and Neil Scobie, Australia; Carl R. Pittman, US; David Pye, UK; Wayne & Belinda Raab, US; Marc Ricourt, France; Allen Ritzman, US; Hap Sakwa, US; Betty Scarpino, US; & Remi Verchot, Australia; David Sengal, US; Michael Shuler, US; Jack Slentz, US; Hayley Smith, US; Butch Smuts, Africa; Alan Stirt, US; Bob Stocksdale, US; Tim Stokes, UK; Marcus Tatton, Tasmania; Joel Urruty, US; Remi Verchot, Australia; Derek Weidman, US; Jakob Weissflog, Germany; Vic Wood, Australia; and Malcolm Zander, Canada