SFMoMA Museum of Modern Art

Martin Puryear

08 Nov 2008 - 25 Jan 2009

Martin Puryear
C.F.A.O., 2006-7
painted and unpainted pine and found wheelbarrow; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; gift of Sid Bass, Leon D. Black, Donald L. Bryant, Jr., Kathy and Richard S. Fuld, Jr., Agnes Gund, Mimi Haas, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, Donald B. Marron and Jerry Speyer on behalf of the Committee on Painting and Sculpture in honor of John Elderfield; © 2008 Martin Puryear; photo: Richard P. Goodbody
MARTIN PURYEAR

November 08, 2008 - January 25, 2009

Made from a variety of natural materials — including wood, tar, rawhide, and stone — Martin Puryear's distinctive sculptures combine modernist geometry with international craft traditions. Influenced by woodworking, basketry, and construction techniques, the pieces at times resemble familiar objects. By blending cultural references, however, Puryear avoids fixed associations of time and place. This major retrospective charts the artist's career from his first solo show in 1977 to the present. SFMOMA's presentation includes a special installation in the Haas Atrium including Ladder for Booker T Washington (1996), made from a 36-foot-long split sapling, and Ad Astra (2007), a 63-foot-tall work that rises to the museum's fifth-floor bridge.
 

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