Irrelevantly Wood: Ellsworth Kelly @ Boston MFA

In January I visited Boston's Museum of Fine Art to see the Ellsworth Kelly exhibit, Wood Sculpture (September 18, 2011- March 4, 2012) and I have been mulling it over ever since. The show included 19 of the 30 wood sculptures that he made between 1958 and 1996. I was anxious to see it to learn what Kelly, one of the most acclaimed living artists, had done with wood, particularly because I thought it would be interesting to see how he applied his trademark minimalist style to the medium. 

So I saw, and I thought, and I looked some more, and I thought some more, and I read and reread all the reviews I could find on-line, and I talked to as many people as I could find that had also seen the show. The problem is, I didn't trust my own lack of enthusiasm for the show. I was concerned that I was missing something, that I just didn't know enough about art, or what the artist was doing, to really appreciate it. Though I honestly wanted to love the work, I couldn't convince myself to even like it and I was looking for reasons why. But then I came across this bronze Kelly sculpture, which is essentially the same form as three of the pieces in the show, and I realized what the problem is with this series of wood sculptures:

Untitled

Bronze

1986

(Image taken from the Nasher Sculpture Center website)

He was using the wrong medium. The piece above I can appreciate. It is a minimalist form made with a medium that doesn't compete with it. It is one monotone color, a man-made material used to depict an artificial, man-made form. The two work together. The forms Kelly has created in this MFA show, on the other hand, compete with the medium. The more I look at the work, the more I wonder why he chose to make them out of wood. The best I can come up with is that he has a genuine appreciation for the medium and he thought, since he is an artist, he could make something with it. But then, he never took into account what the medium required, he just applied the same art he would make in any other medium and assumed it would work. I don't think it does.

Wood is different than most media that artists work with, it is a once living organism so it has variety and character. The grain pattern has its own designs and the tree has its own history. With minimalist sculpture these things need to taken into account because they stare the viewer directly in the face -- form and medium, nothing else.

For comparison, Kelly's work as got me thinking a lot about the Hank Gilpin show I saw at Gallery NAGA a couple of years ago. Gilpin's wood sculptures were also minimalist but were brilliant in their ability take the medium into account in constructing the sculpture (specifically, I'm referring to the last three images in this post). In them, he has used his considerable skill to let the beauty of the wood be at the forefront. They are understated in manipulation and design so that the visually power could come from the wood itself. There is no doubt in Gilpin's work why wood would be used, the work couldn't have been made with any other media. In contrast, Kelly's work seems stiff, industrial, and artificial. Though all these things may be worth capturing in art, I don't see why one would do it with wood. In this case the medium seems to be an irrelevant afterthought that was never taken into consideration in designing the work.

But look at the images yourself and tell me what you think, especially if you saw the show in person. Maybe I'm missing something, I'm happy to be proven wrong and even happier to come to appreciate the work. 

As a side note, the museum, understandably, didn't allow photography but, unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a press pass either. Consequently, I took the images clandestinely. In some cases this resulted photographs from angles I didn't prefer, however, through a combination of persistence and luck, I was at least able to photograph everything in the show (though it took about five visits over three and a half hours).

These first five pieces are all relatively small, probably no more than 24 inches in any one direction. From what I've read, I think Kelly made the first three himself (but I'm not sure), all the others were fabricated by Peter Carlson, a well known and widely used fabricator for major contemporary artists.

Concord in Relief I

Elm

1958

 Form in Relief

Walnut

1958

 Palm Relief

oak

1958

Concord in Relief II

Walnut

1978

Regardless what can be said about the design of the above piece, I find the fabrication deeply troubling. I am really appalled that Kelly allowed it to be displayed with such an obvious defect, the tear-out in the bottom right corner of the top section. I'm not really sure how anybody could put this piece together and not notice or care about fixing it. Perhaps Peter thought that such a simple design could have been made by anyone and assigned it to an inexperienced staffer, but then didn't provide any oversight before shipped it off. And maybe Kelly thought it was too much trouble to ship it back. But really? With such a small and simple piece, all there is to see is the tear out (how could your eye go anywhere else?). Worse yet, I'm not even sure how it is possible to get this much tear out with walnut, it is such an easy wood to work. But even so, to fix it would have just taken a couple of minutes. Of course, one could make up some convoluted art-speak explanation about how it symbolizes such and such but since any explanation would be completely contrary to everything else Kelly has every created, the only reasonable explanation is amateurism and laziness -- not really something that you would expect from an artist of this caliber.

Concord in Relief II (closeup)

The piece below is the same design as at least one two tone painting he has done. I feel that this one could have definitely used two colors as well. Selecting two contrasting colored species would have at least added more interest to the work. I think that using the same design as a previous painting for this wood sculpture only highlights a problem with all of these pieces, the monotonous brown tones of the wood within this minimalist framework doesn't add to the design, it just makes it bland. 

Untitled

Teak

1978

This untitled piece is the first of his large scale wood sculptures. Because of the guards, I wasn't able to get a straight on image but you can see a better one here. 

Untitled

Teak

1978

The piece below was used in the promotion of the exhibit. It is also a similar design to some monochrome paintings and sculptures he has made. Again, in comparison, this piece doesn't really make any sense. In a monochrome, the design can be very soothing, but to make this out of wood they needed to glue about 13 different boards together (they didn't even take the time to match the color and grain, each board probably came from a different tree), creating a helter skelter image that competes with the form. Rather than soothing, this piece creates a lot of (I suspect unintentional) anxiety.

Curve XXI

Birch

1978-80

Curve in Relief IV

red oak

1981

Concorde Relief IV

teak

1982-3

One thing I like about all of these floor sculptures is the brazen confidence it takes to create work that requires the displaying venue to drill holes in the floor.

Curve XXXVI

Wenge

1984

Curve XXXVII

sycamore

1984

The piece above is an elongated version of the form below.

Curve XXXVIII

maple

1984

Curve XXXVIII (side view)

 Diagonal with Curve XVI

mahogany

1984

Untitled

Padouk

1984

Interestingly, this piece, Curve XLIII, was the only one in which Kelly used a board with any figure. Unfortunately, even the beautiful quilting in this sapele doesn't really add anything to the piece as whole. The form and the medium still seem to be completely separate objects, irrelevant to one another.

Curve XLIII

sapele

1984

Curve XLII

Zebrawood

1984

Curve XL

English Elm

1984 

Again, the design below seemed to be a good opportunity to highlight two different, complementary, shapes with two different colors, perhaps two different species but I think even better would have been to paint two different colors on wood. As it is, with one color, the piece just seems flat and boring, nothing more to hold one's interest other than the question, "why?"

Curve in Relief V

red oak

1984

The more I thought about this last piece, a fifteen foot high, four(?) inch thick slab of redwood, the more I found it disturbing. Yes, it's monumental size is impressive, but when I think of the tree that the piece came from, I feel sadness and disappointment. He seems to have used an enormous and beautiful redwood tree for its size alone without adding anything. Out of any other material, stone, metal, glass, ceramics, plastic, it would be impressive, he would have created something from nothing, but here, he is taking something great and reduced it to something that is so much less. I think an apology is in order.

Untitled

Redwood 

1996

Untitled (second view)

Untitled (closeup) 

What do you think?

Great Museum Seating

I recently visited the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to see Ellsworth Kelly's show of wood sculptures, however, in order to avoid getting thrown out of the museum for repeatedly violating their policy of no photography in the special exhibit, I wandered around the rest of the museum hoping that the security guards would rotate out -- which they did about every 45 minutes. In doing so, I saw a lot of great art, but what I was really excited to find were these world class benches and seats that the MFA had strategically placed in unassuming and surprising places.  The first that I stumbled across was this pair of Wendell Castle chairs in the ancient Asian art gallery.

Zephyr Chairs

walnut

1979

Wendell Castle

What an absolute treat! I'd never had the opportunity to sit in a Castle chair and I can now attest that not only are the stunning to look at, they are also quite comfortable.

As I left this spot I made a point of keeping an eye out for more great seating and in a nearby room of Asian horse sculptures (and paintings?) I found this fantastic Judy Kensley McKie bench.

Pegasus Bench

mahagony and leather

1979

Judy Kensley McKie

Though I couldn't find a label identifying the bench I think this is the correct title because it is how Edward Cooke referred to it his 2004 interview with Judy. As with many of her animal sculptures, Judy engages the viewer by designing these horses/pegasi with a little mystery. In looking at them, you can't be quite sure what they are at first, you need to look longer and think about it. It creates an appropriately mythical feel to the piece. Unfortunately, the bench engaged at least one visitor a bit too much given that one of the ears had to be reattached.

Then, not to far away, I think in a gallery of Greek sculpture, I came across this impeccably designed bench by Hank Gilpin.

Bench

curly maple and walnut

1999

Hank Gilpin

The top is a very wild piece of curly maple with the cracks and splits left naturally unfilled or repaired.

Gilpin Bench (top view)

But from the bottom side you can see the remarkable quality of the design and execution. For example, note the gentle curve in the stretchers, the through tenons that are left slightly proud, the pins in the leg securing the tenon are also slightly proud, and, most interesting, look at how he helped to make the bench top look lighter, as if it is floating above the base, by creating a half-inch(?) gap above the legs and by also camferring the edge of the bench. In doing it, he has given a very light feel to a piece that is very solid in its construction. 

Gilpin Bench (underneath view)

Though I continued to look for more great seating during the rest of my visit, I didn't find any more. However, in checking the museums inventory, it looks like there is also a Maloof in another of their less visited galleries (although the MFA has graciously decided to invite the general public to use these great works of art from their permanent collection, I don't think they want them to be subject to the kind of abuse they would experience in their more popular galleries). I'll definitely keep an eye out next time I'm there and will update this list as I locate them.

Hank Gilpin - Celebrating Wood @ Gallery NAGA

The Hank Gilpin show at Gallery NAGA in Boston (Oct 9 to Nov 7) demonstrates why he is one of the great furniture makers in the country. It isn't because he excels at the craft. Although his work demonstrates the highest level of woodworking skill, there are probably hundreds of other woodworkers in the country with equal skill. It isn't because he excels at design. Although his designs are impeccable, there are probably dozens of woodworkers whose imagination leads to work that is as unique, functional, and elegant. What sets Hank's work apart from his peers is his uncanny ability to find and use lumber that no one else is even considering. Piece after piece, the show highlights breathtaking beauty in design, execution, and wood selection.

The most surprising piece in the show is this tulip poplar table made with a blistered poplar top. The design is intentionally understated because the top says it all. I've never heard of such a thing and doubt that I would ever be able to find a board like this if I tried. He has a story that goes with each of the pieces on how he came across the wood. Taken individually, you would think he was just lucky, but as a whole you come to understand that luck has nothing to do with it - he has developed a sixth sense, like a blood hound on the scent its quarry, Hank has a nose for rare and stunningly beautiful wood.
Blistering/quilting effects are more commonly known, though still very rare, in maple; but this big leaf maple table is both exceptional and interesting because you can see the curl throughout the width of the board, in both the dark heartwood and the light sapwood, but the blistering is only found in the heartwood.
And, although I'd be happy to just spend my time looking at the top, if you look at the underlying structure (image taken from the gallery website) you see finely made furniture with equally beautiful wood.
Below is another interesting piece, entitled Curiously Red, made for the "Inspired by China" furniture show that traveled to a number of museums recently. With it, Hank uses elm (another rarely used species) to create a blood red altar with stain dripping over the very bottom. The naturally warped quarter inch top makes what would otherwise be functional furniture into sculpture that is evocative of something sacred. It isn't made to play a supporting role in a room, to hold a vase of flowers or a picture frame, but, rather, to be the subject, left alone and admired for its form.
I can go on and on about the numerous pieces of furniture in the show. Each is worthy of discussion, but what I really enjoyed about the show, and what I found the most surprising, were his wonderful wood sculptures. They range from small playful pieces to large statements of the "wood is art" aesthetic. I hadn't been aware that Hank made non-functional pieces but was told that he has been making the small pieces for a number of years as a way to have something affordable for people that would stop by his studio when it is open to the public. And affordable they are. The economy may stink, but the public still knows a deal when they see one and they will swam when they appear. As indicated by the red dots on this list of small sculptures, these pieces are a deal. For as little as $250 you can walk away with a Hank Gilpin masterpiece.

One of my favorites is the elegantly carved Theater made with blistered maple. It is hard to tell from the image but there is no joinery, it is carved from a single block of wood.Again, with this rosewood piece, Sushi?, there is no joinery.Hank doesn't like to use tropical woods - North American forests are full of the most beautiful lumber in the world so why bother - but if a client requires it, and especially if they supply him with the wood - like they did with this pink ivory used for Float (a scrap was left over) - he'll use it. (the wood is extremely rare and has a natural red/pink tone; it comes from southern Africa)
I love his use of this book-matched crotch/curly ash in this piece Flamin' Ash. He plays with the figure in a very natural way, it both makes sense and is captivating - like a flame, and where the hell do you find a 6 in thick board of curly ash anyway? Another masterful find.
With my bias toward wood art that really celebrates the wood as art, I have to say that the best work of the show are his large wall pieces. My favorite is this warped sheet of walnut (~1/4" thick), entitled Wood Moves. His appreciation for its natural beauty led him to let the wood speak for itself. It is perfect as it is but don't let the simplicity fool you; cleaning up and mounting this thin warped sheet of wood took expert craftsmanship as well as a keen sense of design.
And then there are these huge apple wood flitches, titled Wall Unit. It is extremely rare to find a solid board of apple this large, typically, large apple trees are hollow. Again, he demonstrates exceptional craftsmanship but also the sound judgment to minimize his involvement. He isn't imposing his will on the wood, but rather, finding the best way to let the wood speak for itself.
Finally, there is this amazing piece, Twisted Crotches, made with crotch white oak. He modestly and, somewhat apologetically, said that he created it by just letting the greenwood warp on its own, but the truth is it takes a lot of work and skill to clean-up rough-sawn warped boards, getting the lines straight and even, making the surfaces consistent thickness, and then mounting them. It also took great aesthetic sense, and courage, to take such prime lumber and dedicating it for a non-functional piece that would have uncertain form and impact. It shouldn't be surprising that Hank is such an accomplished sculptor given that he has been making functional sculpture for almost forty years, but it is surprising that he hasn't been more active in creating and promoting it. I'm sure he is very busy keeping his furniture clients happy, and sculpture has a less certain financial pay-off, but the art world needs more artists that are as concerned with their craft as they are with design. Gallery NAGA had been begging him for a solo show for two decades. Hopefully, he'll schedule his next show much more quickly and he'll continue to expand upon his wood sculpture portfolio.

Shell Commission Update

Here is the roughed-out shell commission. Having heard Hank Gilpin give a talk at Gallery NAGA two days ago, I've been thinking about what he said about commissions, how they are a great opportunity to do interesting things that he wouldn't normally do (he gave an example of a ten foot long table six inches high). I think this is a good example. There is no way I would have thought of doing a giant sea shell but I'm happy to be doing it and pleased with how it is looking. In this way, it is really a collaboration with the client. I don't mind collaborating; there is no reason I need to work alone with self-inspiration. Although there is always a risk in working with other people - that you may create a camel when you really want a horse - but done right, it can be an opportunity to make something much better than one would otherwise do.It looks like it will turn out to be 83" rather than the 80" I had in my drawing but I'm sure that isn't a problem. I was able to select curly yellow birch boards with similar figure and all the curls are moving in the same direction so it should look like one consistent board throughout the piece. I'll bleach the heart wood out of the top three sections so it won't distract from the coloring. The section second from the bottom is darker than the rest because I had started shellacking it to get an idea of what it would look like.

Working with yellow birch also has me thinking about Hank Gilpin because he is famous for his use of rarely used species, which yellow birch is. Though, I now have a good understanding of why yellow birch is such an under-utilized wood. Frankly, it is a pain in the butt to cut. The wood is so hard and the curl so intense that you need to make the very smallest cuts on the joiner and planer or the grain will tear out with deep gouges. Then, there is so much tension in the wood that I can't get it through the table saw in one pass; the boards pinch the blade as it is going through so I have to repeatedly stop the saw, pull it out, and start again. A four foot board can take 4 tries to get it through the saw (rough cutting with the band saw might have been a good idea). Although it is extra work, it will be worth it. Yellow birch is the right species for this project and it will look great when I'm done. Besides, cutting the boards is an almost insignificant part of the project. I'll spend so many more hours painting it, I won't have any memory of the difference in cutting time when I'm done.