"I am interested in your personal hang-ups: Not your lifetime neuroses but your (ideal) hat, coat and/or clothes tree or hanger, wall hooks, free standing pole, rack, stand or small wall system." With this invitation Gail M. Brown, an independent curator, challenged artists to create inventive forms for an exhibition at The Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia. The resulting sculptures by 38 artists ranged from a straightforward coat rack to a four-foot apartment house riding on a fish, from a sceptre-like paean to Joan Miro to a "four eyes nun-backed chair," and from a bird house to a wall-mounted seat and desktop. The artists used a wide range of woods, from the ordinary to the exotic, as well as rubber, steel, and gold-plated brass. The works project grace, intelligence, whimsy, humour, and serious craft. AUTHOR: The Center for Art in Wood is a non-profit arts and educational institution in Old City Philadelphia that features international contemporary art made from wood in changing exhibits, a museum collection showing the breadth of art created from wood and a research library. Incorporated in 1986, the Center has staged the annual Windgate ITE International Residency Program since 1995 for artists, photojournalists and scholars. 58 colour images
