Wendell Castle
Desk (Silver Leaf Desk), 1967
Mahogany, cherry, plywood, gesso, and silver leaf
40 x 89 1/2 x 66 inches
Racine Art Museum, Gift of SC Johnson in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of RAM’s Wustum Museum of Fine Arts
Photography: Jon Bolton, Racine
OBJECTS REDUX: 50 Years After OBJECTS: USA Defined American Craft
September 21, 2019 – January 5, 2020
In the late 1960s, as society was undergoing social upheaval, studio craft in the United States was pushing boundaries in terms of influences, subjects, and material exploration. The public face of studio craft—as the focus of exhibitions, theoretical contemplation, and public appreciation—got a boost when SC Johnson endorsed a project to build a collection that would “promote the American object maker.”
This collection—assembled by art dealer Lee Nordness and then Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now Museum of Arts and Design) director Paul Smith—traveled the country as OBJECTS: USA before being distributed, in the way of gifts, to several institutions. Accompanied by a substantial book with images and artist biographies, as well as a sales catalogue titled arts/objects: usa and an hour-long movie, this combination of over 300 works made of so-called craft materials traveled to 20 US and 14 international venues on its multi-year tour that began in 1969. The exhibition introduced a broader public to the possibilities of media most often associated with function not intellectual, aesthetic, or material investigations. OBJECTS: USA also offered a new way for understanding those works and their makers.
Drawing on RAM’s collection, as well as generous lenders from the Racine area, OBJECTS REDUX celebrates the 50th anniversary of OBJECTS: USA by combining works from the original touring exhibition with works by many of the same artists produced as part of the accompanying selling program. Not only is this the first time in 50 years that these particular works have been assembled, it is also the first time that these original exhibition works have been back on display in the same gallery.
More About the Exhibition
Artists in the Exhibition
Robert Arneson, Irena Brynner, Wendell Castle, Hans Christensen, Claude Conover, Wharton Esherick, Arthur Carpenter Espenet, Frances Felten, Ken Ferguson, Arline Fisch, Carol Funai, Trude Guermonprez, Virginia Harvey, Wayne Higby, Paul Hultberg, Kent Ipsen, Nancy Jurs, Howard Kottler, Doyle Lane, Stanley Lechtzin, Marvin Lipofsky, Harvey K. Littleton, Sam Maloof, Thomas Markusen, Harrison McIntosh, Frederick A. Miller, Joel Philip Myers, Gertrud Natzler, Otto Natzler, Walter Nottingham, Albert Paley, Alice Kagawa Parrott, Ronald Hayes Pearson, Ruth Clark Radakovich, Svetozar Radakovich, Don Reitz, Ed Rossbach, Margaret Seeler, George Sell, Ken Shores, Patrick W. Siler, Art Smith, Paul Smith, Paolo Soleri, Bill Stewart, Robert Stull, Toshiko Takaezu, Gianni Toso, William Underhill, Daniel Loomis Valenza, Peter Vandenberge, Peter Voulkos, Susan Weitzman, William Wilhelmi, and Dorian Zachai
OBJECTS REDUX: 50 Years After OBJECTS: USA Defined American Craft
September 21, 2019 – January 5, 2020
Wendell Castle
Desk (Silver Leaf Desk), 1967
Mahogany, cherry, plywood, gesso, and silver leaf
40 x 89 1/2 x 66 inches
Racine Art Museum, Gift of SC Johnson in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of RAM’s Wustum Museum of Fine Arts
Photography: Jon Bolton, Racine
In the late 1960s, as society was undergoing social upheaval, studio craft in the United States was pushing boundaries in terms of influences, subjects, and material exploration. The public face of studio craft—as the focus of exhibitions, theoretical contemplation, and public appreciation—got a boost when SC Johnson endorsed a project to build a collection that would “promote the American object maker.”
This collection—assembled by art dealer Lee Nordness and then Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now Museum of Arts and Design) director Paul Smith—traveled the country as OBJECTS: USA before being distributed, in the way of gifts, to several institutions. Accompanied by a substantial book with images and artist biographies, as well as a sales catalogue titled arts/objects: usa and an hour-long movie, this combination of over 300 works made of so-called craft materials traveled to 20 US and 14 international venues on its multi-year tour that began in 1969. The exhibition introduced a broader public to the possibilities of media most often associated with function not intellectual, aesthetic, or material investigations. OBJECTS: USA also offered a new way for understanding those works and their makers.
Drawing on RAM’s collection, as well as generous lenders from the Racine area, OBJECTS REDUX celebrates the 50th anniversary of OBJECTS: USA by combining works from the original touring exhibition with works by many of the same artists produced as part of the accompanying selling program. Not only is this the first time in 50 years that these particular works have been assembled, it is also the first time that these original exhibition works have been back on display in the same gallery.
More About the Exhibition
Artists in the Exhibition
Robert Arneson, Irena Brynner, Wendell Castle, Hans Christensen, Claude Conover, Wharton Esherick, Arthur Carpenter Espenet, Frances Felten, Ken Ferguson, Arline Fisch, Carol Funai, Trude Guermonprez, Virginia Harvey, Wayne Higby, Paul Hultberg, Kent Ipsen, Nancy Jurs, Howard Kottler, Doyle Lane, Stanley Lechtzin, Marvin Lipofsky, Harvey K. Littleton, Sam Maloof, Thomas Markusen, Harrison McIntosh, Frederick A. Miller, Joel Philip Myers, Gertrud Natzler, Otto Natzler, Walter Nottingham, Albert Paley, Alice Kagawa Parrott, Ronald Hayes Pearson, Ruth Clark Radakovich, Svetozar Radakovich, Don Reitz, Ed Rossbach, Margaret Seeler, George Sell, Ken Shores, Patrick W. Siler, Art Smith, Paul Smith, Paolo Soleri, Bill Stewart, Robert Stull, Toshiko Takaezu, Gianni Toso, William Underhill, Daniel Loomis Valenza, Peter Vandenberge, Peter Voulkos, Susan Weitzman, William Wilhelmi, and Dorian Zachai
Gallery of Work
Exhibitions at RAM are made possible by:
Platinum Sponsors
The Estate of Karen Johnson Boyd
David Charak
Judith and David Flegel Fund
Ron and Judith Isaacs
Barbara Waldman
Windgate Foundation
Diamond Sponsors
Ruffo Family Foundation
Ruth Arts Foundation
Gold Sponsors
Anonymous
Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation
Reliance Controls Community Fund
Trio Foundation of St. Louis
W.T. Walker Group, Inc.
Silver Sponsors
Anonymous
Baird
Beta Diagnostic Labs
A.C. Buhler Family
Ben and Dawn Flegel
Friends of Fiber, International
Sharon and Tom Harty
Horizon Retail Construction, Inc.
Johnson Financial Group
Dorothy MacVicar
Jan Serr and John Shannon
Bronze Sponsors
Dave’s Wine Garage
Educators Credit Union
Express Employment Professionals
Lucy G. Feller
Bill and Debbie Keland
Susan Manalli
Norbell Foundation
JoAnna Poehlman
Twin Disc
Media Sponsor
