Turning Wood Into Art

5th – 28th Feb 2007

Over the past four years the gallery has introduced a new fine art medium onto the London Art Scene, Turned Wood. A craft traditionally associated with simple utilitarian production has been reinvented by the ambitions of two generations of turned wood artists in the United States. Through innovative technical skill and unique processes, turned wood vessels have become exquisite and sophisticated art objects, which have inspired collectors and museums internationally to reconsider this underestimated discipline.

Such an extraordinary level of interest has meant the gallery has intensified the search to find wood turners from other countries to produce a singularly defining exhibition that maintains a quality and variety, and which represents the advances continually being made. For example, Shuler and Mode use complex laminating processes which we have not seen before, and Latven deconstructs the basic vessel form to create complex sculptural objects. Larsen, the Danish artist, turns wood to within a couple of millimetres, giving a translucent feel similar to porcelain. It is exciting to bring such a visual array of work together for this truly comprehensive survey and present the work in the fine art context it undoubtedly deserves.

We would like to thank Hana and Brian Smouha for developing and supporting this exhibition with the gallery and for their enthusiasm and increasing desire to bring Turned Wood to the British public’s attention. They are passionate collectors which as we have seen over the years has become quite infectious!