Thaddeus Mosley (b. 1926, Pennsylvania) is a sculptor who works primarily with wood. Skilled in every aspect of his craft, Mosley finds, seasons, and stores felled tree trunks for later use. His sculptures are assembled from hand-carved pieces including walnut, bass, and hickory, incorporating knots and their natural gradations. Immersed in this process for over seven decades, the artist has developed a distinctive language of expressive abstract forms rooted in the organic qualities of his material. Mosley’s practice of “listening to wood” inspired the exhibition’s title Touching the Earth, a phrase borrowed from the writer bell hooks.
The exhibition features eight bronzes recently cast from wood sculptures Mosley made between 1996 and 2021. The bronze sculptures range from human scale to the monumental Gate III, while varied patinas and textures preserve the original surfaces as well as the tactile presence of his hand and chisel. Mosley draws on influences as varied as modernist sculpture, his collection of Western African masks, and the genre of jazz, to realize a deeply humanist body of sculptures through distillation, invention, and improvisation.
Thaddeus Mosley: Touching the Earth is curated by Public Art Fund Assistant Curator Jenée-Daria Strand.
About the Artist
Thaddeus Mosley (b. 1926, Pennsylvania) creates monumental sculptures crafted from the salvaged wood from Pennsylvania’s forests. Using only a chisel and gauge to maintain the integrity of the original log, Mosley reworks timber—primarily from indigenous Pennsylvanian hardwoods such as cherry and walnut—into biomorphic forms. Through a process of direct carving, the artist’s marks respond to and rearticulate the natural gradations of the material’s surface. With influences ranging from Isamu Noguchi to Constantin Brâncuși—and the Bamum, Dogon, Baoulé, Senufo, Dan, and Mossi works of his personal collection—Mosley’s “sculptural improvisations,” as he calls them, also take cues from the modernist traditions of jazz. “The only way you can really achieve something is if you’re not working so much from a pattern. That’s also the essence of good jazz,” he says of his method. Mosley lives in Pittsburgh.
Mosley’s work has been presented in institutional solo exhibitions at the Seattle Art Museum (2024); Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas (2023); Art + Practice, Los Angeles (2022); and Baltimore Museum of Art (2021), as well as group exhibitions at the Bergen Kunsthall, Norway (2022); Harvard Business School, Boston (2020); Sculpture Milwaukee (2020); Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2018); and Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh (2009), among others. Mosley’s sculptures are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; Baltimore Museum of Art; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
Location
Related Programs
Thaddeus Mosley (n. 1926, Pennsylvania) es escultor y trabaja principalmente con madera. Hábil en todos los aspectos de su oficio, Mosley encuentra, cura y almacena troncos de árboles talados para después usarlos. Sus esculturas se ensamblan a partir de piezas talladas a mano en nogal, tilo y haya, incorporando nudos y sus gradaciones naturales. Inmerso en este proceso durante más de siete décadas, el artista ha desarrollado un lenguaje único de formas expresivas abstractas, arraigadas en las cualidades orgánicas de su material. La práctica de Mosley de “escuchar la madera” inspiró el título de la exposición, Touching the Earth, una frase tomada de la escritora bell hooks.
La exposición presenta ocho bronces recientemente fundidos a partir de esculturas de madera que Mosley realizó entre 1996 y 2021. Las esculturas de bronce abarcan desde la escala humana hasta la monumental Gate III, mientras que las diversas pátinas y texturas conservan las superficies originales, así como la presencia táctil de su mano y su cincel. Mosley se nutre de influencias tan diversas como la escultura modernista, su colección de máscaras de África Occidental y el jazz para crear un conjunto escultórico profundamente humanista a través de la destilación, la invención y la improvisación.
Thaddeus Mosley: Tocando la tierra es de la curaduría de Jenée-Daria Strand, curadora adjunta de Public Art Fund.
Acerca de la Artista
Thaddeus Mosley (n. 1926, New Castle, Pensilvania) crea esculturas monumentales a partir de madera recuperada de los bosques de Pensilvania. Utilizando únicamente un cincel y un calibrador para mantener la integridad del tronco original, Mosley reelabora la madera (principalmente de especies frondosas autóctonas de Pensilvania, como el cerezo y el nogal) en formas biomórficas. Mediante un proceso de tallado directo, las marcas del artista responden y rearticularán las gradaciones naturales de la superficie del material. Con influencias que van desde Isamu Noguchi hasta Constantin Brâncuși y las obras bamum, dogon, baoulé, senufo, dan y mossi de su colección personal, las “improvisaciones escultóricas” de Mosley, como él las llama, también se inspiran en las tradiciones modernistas del jazz. “La única manera de realmente lograr algo es no trabajar a partir de un patrón. Esa es también la esencia del buen jazz”, afirma sobre su método. Mosley vive en Pittsburgh.
La obra de Mosley se ha presentado en exposiciones individuales en el Seattle Art Museum (2024); Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas (2023); Art + Practice, Los Ángeles (2022) y Baltimore Museum of Art (2021), así como en exposiciones colectivas en el Bergen Kunsthall, Noruega (2022); Harvard Business School, Boston (2020); Sculpture Milwaukee (2020); Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2018) y Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, entre otros. Las esculturas de Mosley se encuentran en las colecciones del Art Institute of Chicago; Baltimore Museum of Art; Brooklyn Museum, Nueva York; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Nueva York; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; y el Whitney Museum of American Art, Nueva York.
Ubicación
Bloomberg Philanthropies is the presenting sponsor of Thaddeus Mosley: Touching the Earth.
Leadership support for Touching the Earth is provided by the Abrams Foundation and Elizabeth Fearon Pepperman & Richard C. Pepperman II, with champion support from Elise & Andrew Brownstein, Jennifer & Jason New, Allison & Paul Russo, Karen & Sam Seymour, and Allison Wiener & Jeffrey Schackner; and generous support from Margot & Nathan Bram and Linda Lennon & Stuart Baskin.
Special thanks to engineering partner TYLin.
Public Art Fund is supported by the generosity of individuals, corporations, and private foundations including lead support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, along with major support from the Abrams Foundation, the Charina Endowment Fund, The Cowles Charitable Trust, the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, The Fuhrman Family Foundation, Agnes Gund, The Marc Haas Foundation, Hartfield Foundation, KHR McNeely Family Foundation | Kevin, Rosemary, and Hannah Rose McNeely, the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, Red Crane Foundation, the Meyer and Deanne Sharlin Foundation, and The Silverweed Foundation.
Public Art Fund exhibitions and programs are also supported in part with public funds from government agencies, including the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
