Untitled

Artist Thaddeus Wolfe (American, born 1979)

Place of OriginAmerica

Date2021

Dimensions19 1/4 × 10 × 10 in. (48.9 × 25.4 × 25.4 cm)

MediumCast glass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds given by Diane and Jerome Phillips, the Brooke Simonds Family, and Museum Art Fund

Object number

2021.36

Not on View

DescriptionStacked form with variegated saturated colors (aqua blue, green, yellow, orange, almost black) that resemble a squat figure. The 'head' has an irregular hole on each side, providing a view the the glossy interior. The exterior is has various textured patterns with splotches and meandering stripes.

Label TextInspired by minerals, plants, and other natural phenomena as well as architecture of the 20th century, Toledo, Ohio native Thaddeus Wolfe creates glass sculptures that are both painterly and geological. Cast as a single block of glass from a mold of broken and carved Styrofoam, Wolfe’s stacked geometrical forms display a confident use of color and form, sometimes appearing to have a human-like appearance. Wolfe’s sculptures are frequently compared to Brutalist architecture (characterized by an austere, often “blocky” appearance and the use of concrete) and have ‘windows’ that give access to the object’s interior, revealing the smooth, glossy surface untouched by the mold. Wolfe considers his sculptures assemblages. To him they are “a synthesis of visual input and ideas from the natural and unnatural worlds into something more complex and abstract, which does not necessarily reference any one specific thing.”Published ReferencesAdamson, Glenn, "A New Realism," Friedman Benda, 2021 [exhibition essay].Exhibition HistoryNew York, Friedman Benda, A New Realism, curated by Glenn Adamson, June 3-July 2, 2021 (group exhibition).