{"data":{"id":"2637","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":2637,"topgoose_id":1153,"tms_id":2637,"display_name":"Martin Puryear","sort_name":"Puryear Martin","display_date":"1941–","begin_date":"1941","end_date":"0","biography":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Martin Puryear began his career\nin the late 1960s, he worked in a variety of\nmediums, including painting, printmaking,\nand drawing, before shifting to the\npredominantly abstract sculptures for which\nhe is best known. His lifelong interest in\ndiverse cultures and natural history\nprompted him to travel, work, and study on\nseveral continents. He learned wood\ncraftsmanship techniques while in the Peace\nCorps in Sierra Leone, printmaking at the\nRoyal Swedish Academy of Arts in\nStockholm, and finally honed his artistic\npractice at Yale University.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eRing\u003c/em\u003e series—comprised of\napproximately thirty wall-mounted, circular\nwood sculptures that the artist created\nbetween 1978 and 1985—calls upon his\nprevious training in two-dimensional methods.\nThe circles, he explained, “are about line,”\nand represent “drawing with wood.” Puryear\nfashioned the forms by bending, gluing,\nor shaving wood into purposefully imperfect\ncircles. \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/37906\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eArdea\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e is abstract in composition,\nyet its title, derived from the scientific\nname for the genus that includes the great\nblue heron, suggests a reference to\nthe near-circular curve of that bird’s neck.\nTo achieve its arching form, Puryear\nimplemented a technique called lamination\nthat required him to carefully layer thin\nstrips of pine and cedar. Although each\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;Ring\u003c/em\u003e\nsculpture is unique, the repetitive format\nrecalls the serial production of Minimalism,\nthe sculptural mode Puryear credits\nwith legitimizing “the power of the simple,\nsingle thing.” Unlike his predecessors,\nwho championed outsourced fabrication,\nhowever, the sculptor in these works\nbalances the fluidity of found organic forms\nwith the individually constructed object.\nFor Puryear, “The physical act of making a\nwork of art is essential.”\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500009936","wikidata_id":"Q6776418","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:06:25.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-11T07:00:51.050-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/2637/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/2637/exhibitions"}}}}