February 5 – March 20, 2010

( Wood Turning Center, Philadelphia, PA) The Wood Turning Center is pleased to announce the February 5, 2010 opening of Contemporary Wood Art: Collectors’ Selections which runs at the Center through March 20^th.  This exhibition highlights 87 works from the museum collection of the Wood Turning Center, curated by four preeminent mid-career art collectors.

Mr. Stephen Keeble and Ms. Karen Depew (Chevy Chase, MD) and Dr. Jeffrey Bernstein and Dr. Judith Chernoff (Laurel, MD) curated the exhibition along three focused areas that they felt were consistent with their own appreciation and collecting of wood art. The themes of the exhibition are: Wood, Decoration, and Design. The range of objects reflects the evolution of each couple’s collaborative collecting - from unadorned functional forms to decorated surfaces to complex sculptural work.  

The “Wood” section features works that they found indicative of their earliest collecting, highlighting the tactile and natural beauty of the medium. This group of work showcases the collectors’ interest in the beauty of various woods shaped by artists utilizing lathes and sharp tools into simple classic forms. 

“Decoration” includes items from the Collection that reflected the second phase of their collecting, where their eye and growing knowledge broadened into appreciating varied processes that transformed the work beyond the simplicity of natural coloring and classic shapes. In this phase they felt collectors begin educating themselves and developing relationships with the artists they meet, and their readings/discussions about inspiration, design and finish help them develop an appreciation for more complex treatments and approaches to the medium. 

“Design” focuses on pieces where the artist has made complex choices about material, decoration and form.  As exposure to work in artists’ studios, galleries, craft exhibits and museums expands, collectors grow to appreciate the intertwining of artists’ concepts, their selections of materials and the resulting embodiment of intellectual ideas into free forms. Through this third grouping from the Wood Turning Center’s Museum Collection, the choices reflect more and more about their particular individual interests and aesthetics as collectors.

We hope you will enjoy the show in two ways, to appreciate the breadth of our museum collection but also to think about what these 4 collectors have chosen to show you that reflects their journey and how their passions for collecting wood art warmed them and drove them – first to tiptoe into basics, then to step up to varied shapes and finishes, and finally to jump fully-dressed into appreciation of contemporary sculpture that they probably bypassed as beginners.    

Join the collectors at the Center on Saturday, February 20^th from 3pm –5pm when they will discuss how they collect together, what drew them to their selections from the museum collection, and their outlooks on the future of wood art and collecting.

THE WOOD TURNING CENTER:

At its Old City, Philadelphia location, the Center features international contemporary wood art in changing exhibits, a museum collection showing the breadth of the wood art field, a research library, and an eclectic mix of unique merchandise in the Museum Store. The Center is open Tuesday – Friday, 10am – 5pm and Saturday 12pm – 5pm. Admission is free. Donations support the Center’s educational mission. For more information, please call 215-923-8000, email info@woodturningcenter.org or visit www.woodturningcenter.org.

Programming at the Center is supported in part by generous donations by the Members and Friends of the Wood Turning Center. Included are the Artists' Cambium Circle: David M. Bender; Jerome Blanc; Michael Brolly; Philip Brown; Christian Burchard; Gorst du Plessis; David Ellsworth; Peter Exton; Harvey Fein; Satoshi Fujinuma; Dewey Garrett; Dick Gerard; Stephan Goetschius; David Gould; Matthew Harding; Peter Harrison; Doug Haslam; Michelle Holzapfel; William Hunter; Stoney Lamar; Hans Lie; Art Liestman; Mark Lindquist; Robert Lyon; Rudiger Marquarding; Connie Mississippi; Michael Mocho; Philip Moulthrop; Ambrose O'Halloran; Bihn Pho; Richard Rand; Frank Salas; Merryll Saylan; Betty Scarpino; Siegfried Schreiber; Lincoln Seitzman; Daniel Silver; Randy and Lisa Stromsoe; Marcus Tatton; Holly Tornheim; Leah Woods; and Malcolm Zander. Cambium Circle: Joel Assouline; Richard & Rita Goldberg; Lee Bender & Carol Schilling; Fleur Bresler; Harvey Fein; Bruce & Eleanor Heister; Bruce A. Kaiser; Jerome & Deena Kaplan; Alan Keiser; Tim & Sheryl Kochman; Len & Norma Klorfine; Herb & Mae Kurtz; Alan LeCoff; Albert & Tina LeCoff; Judson Randall; Greg & Regina Rhoa; Norton Rockler; and Ron & Anita Wornick. Public and Private Foundations:anonymous foundations; National Endowment for the Arts; Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; PEW PCMI; and Philadelphia Cultural Fund. Corporate Sponsors: Craft Supplies USA; Klingspor Woodworking Supply; Oneway Manufacturing; Packard Woodworks, Inc; Penn State Industries; Rockler Woodworking & Hardware; and Stubby Lathe.

The Wood Turning Center participates in First Friday Openings in conjunction with the Old City Arts Association

The Wood Turning Center is a nonprofit art and educational organization whose goal is to further the growth of artists, exhibition of contemporary wood art, and promoting public appreciation of such art.

Contact: Ron Humbertson

Email: ron@woodturningcenter.org

Images available upon request

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