Details

Title

Untitled

Artist/Maker

Martin Puryear (American, born 1941)

Date

1985

Medium

Acrylic on pine, kozo paper on steel mesh

Dimensions

99 x 60 x 10 inches

Credit

Purchase with funds from Alfred Austell Thornton in memory of Leila Austell Thornton and Albert Edward Thornton, Sr., and Sarah Miller Venable and William Hoyt Venable

Accession #

1994.50

Location

Currently not on view

While serving in the Peace Corps in the 1960s, Martin Puryear learned carving and carpentry techniques from craftspeople near the remote African village where he was stationed. Later, while studying in Sweden, he also learned Scandinavian carpentry techniques. This work is one of the last of approximately forty "rings" Puryear made throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. Made primarily of laminated strips of wood, these roughly circular works maintain a ceremonial and symbolic presence, as if they were enlarged talismans, amulets, or trophies.

Image Copyright

© Martin Puryear

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