Thaddeus Mosley

Last updated
Thaddeus Mosley
Born1926 (age 97–98)
New Castle, Pennsylvania, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationBA, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh
Known for Sculpture
AwardsGovernor's Award for Artist of the Year Pennsylvania Visual Arts (1999), PCA Cultural Award (2000), PCA Service to the Arts Award (2002)

Thaddeus G. Mosley (born 1926) is an American sculptor who works mostly in wood and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Contents

Biography

Mosley was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania, where both sides of his family were farmers and miners. [1] After high school graduation, he "entered as support company in California supplying Liberty ships" for the U.S. Navy. [1] He was stationed on Peleliu Island in the western Pacific. [1] With his ex-serviceman's grant he attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts with a double major in English and Journalism in 1950. [2] While in school he worked for photographer Isadore Frichman and the Pittsburgh Photo Guild, developing negatives in the darkroom a few hours each week. [1] His interest in the visual arts was further piqued through a course titled "World Cultures," where he learned about different African art traditions and European modernist artists such as Constantin Brâncuși. [1]

He met his first wife Ruth Ray (separated in 1960) at a dance and the two were married after his first year of university. They had three children together. [1] They settled in Pittsburgh and he took a job with the U.S. Postal Service after graduation. [3] He also worked as a freelance journalist and photographer in the 1950s for the Pittsburgh Courier and various national magazines such as Ebony , Sepia , and Jet . [1] Articles he wrote on jazz musicians and athletes would later serve as inspiration for his carving and sculpture. [3]

Mosley became interested in pursuing sculpture through his frequent visits to the Carnegie Museum of Art and through his own art historical research at public libraries. [1] He "was inspired to take up wood carving" after viewing a Scandinavian furniture display at a local department in the late 1950s. [4] The display included wood carvings of birds and fish, rather than paying $75 apiece for the animals, Mosley decided to make his own. [1] This was the beginning of his lifelong passion for wood carving and his participation and activism in the Pittsburgh art scene, which would continue for the rest of his life. [1]

His friendships with other local artists such as William Palmer and Carl Smith were integral to his practice, as the three would exchange ideas and visit art openings together. [1] In 1961, along with African-American artists Charles Anderson and Lee Cowan, Mosely founded the Watt Lane Art Club. [1] The three saw the club as the start of grassroots movement to establish a supported African-American art scene in Pittsburgh, and other artists soon joined. [1] The club expanded to over 20 members, changed their name to Group One and ran a community gallery in the Manchester neighborhood until there disbandment in 1964. [1] The name Group One was likely a reference to the more established Pittsburgh art collective called Group A (previously known as The Abstract Group), of which Mosley has also been a member. [5]

Mosley remarried Yvonne Reed (they had three children), and the two moved to the Southside of Pittsburgh where he would have more studio space. [1] He became well known to the general public in Pittsburgh after a local news channel, WQED, aired a special on the artist highlighting his studio. [1] In the years that followed he continued to work for the U.S. Postal Service and exhibit his sculpture locally. [1] In 1968, "he was invited to have a one man exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art," which earned him national recognition. [1] He has continually advocated for the African-American art community in Pittsburgh, including as an officer of the Pittsburgh Society of Sculptors and a board member for the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. [3]

Exhibitions and awards

Major exhibitions include the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (PCA)'s Artist of the Year show in 1979; the Three Rivers Arts Festival with Selma Burke in 1990; and the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in 1995. He also is 1 of 32 artists to be featured in the 2018 Carnegie International. [6]

Mosley's awards include the 1999 Governor's Award for Artist of the Year in Pennsylvania Visual Arts, the PCA 2000 Cultural Award, and the PCA 2002 Service to the Arts Award and Exhibition. [3] The latter award, first awarded in 1997, is given to a member of the local arts community for demonstrating inspiration, involvement, commitment and passion for the arts. [7] The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review called Mosley "a fixture at local art openings" and said:

A constant contributor to charity auctions (he recently donated two pieces to the Sharry Evrett Scholarship Award auction and created a penguin for Sweetwater Center for the Arts' Penguins on Parade auction), he also is widely respected as an instructor, having given countless workshops on woodcarving at colleges and art centers locally and regionally. Most notable has been the Touchstone Center for Crafts in Farmington, Fayette County, where he has taught wood sculpture every summer for more than 20 years. [8]

A 45-minute documentary on Mosley's life, Thaddeus Mosley: Sculptor, was completed in 2012. [2]

In October 2022, Mosley's sculptures were part of the inaugural edition of Paris + par Art Basel. [9] Curated by Annabelle Ténèze, Director of Les Abattoirs, Thaddeus Mosley in La Suite de l’Histoire was exhibited at Musée National Eugène-Delacroix. [10]

In 2023, Mosley had several solo exhibitions including Thaddeus Mosely: Recent Sculpture at Karma Los Angeles and Thaddeus Mosley: Forest at the Nasher Sculpture Center. [11] Forest was organized by the Baltimore Museum of Art where it was exhibited between October 17, 2021 — March 27, 2022 and curated by Jessica Bell Brown. [12] The exhibition included five recent sculptures, carved from discarded walnut trees the artist gathered in Pittsburgh neighborhoods. [11]

Work and Influences

His best-known sculptures in Pittsburgh are the 14-foot cedars Phoenix at the corner of Centre Avenue and Dinwiddie in the Hill District and the Mountaintop limestone at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in the Hill District at Herron and Milwaukee Streets. [3] Other commissions include Three Rivers Bench in 2003 for the David L. Lawrence Convention Center; Legends at the Susquehanna Art Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from December 2003 to March 2004; and an exhibition at the CUE Art Foundation Gallery in New York City in March 2004. [3]

Another well known work titled Georgia Gate, created in 1975 and owned by the Carnegie Museum of Art, was based on sculptures from a graveyard in Sumner, Georgia that Mosley saw pictures of in Marshall Stearns' book The Story of Jazz. [4] Living in Pittsburgh, Mosley met many influential musicians such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Tommy Turrentine, the later of whom was a good friend. [13] The influence of jazz music can be seen in his improvisational carving techniques and the titles of sculptures, such as Tatum Scales. [14] Made in 2020, the title and ridged elements "likely refers to Art Tatum, whose rapid-fire prowess on the piano was characterized by virtuoso traversals up and down the keyboard." [14] Other artistic influences include Isamu Noguchi, whom Mosley considers one of the "greatest American sculptors" and African art, with particular interest in the diversity of Western and Central African art traditions. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Grey Barnard</span> American sculptor (1863–1938)

George Grey Barnard, often written George Gray Barnard, was an American sculptor who trained in Paris. He is especially noted for his heroic sized Struggle of the Two Natures in Man at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, his twin sculpture groups at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, and his Lincoln statue in Cincinnati, Ohio. His major works are largely symbolical in character. His personal collection of medieval architectural fragments became a core part of The Cloisters in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Prize</span>

The Carnegie Prize is an international art prize awarded by the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It currently consists of a $10,000 cash prize accompanied by a gold medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Museum of Art</span> Art museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Carnegie Museum of Art is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The museum was originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was formerly located at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. The museum's first gallery was opened for public use on November 5, 1895. Over the years, the gallery vastly increased in size, with a new building on Forbes Avenue built in 1907. In 1963, the name was officially changed to Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute. The size of the gallery has tripled over time, and it was officially renamed in 1986 to "Carnegie Museum of Art" to indicate it clearly as one of the four Carnegie Museums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh</span> United States historic place

Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh is a nonprofit organization that operates four museums in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The organization is headquartered in the Carnegie Institute and Library complex in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The Carnegie Institute complex, which includes the original museum, recital hall, and library, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 1979.

The Carnegie International is a North American exhibition of contemporary art from around the globe. It was first organized at the behest of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie on November 5, 1896, in Pittsburgh. Carnegie established the International to educate and inspire the public as well as to promote international cooperation and understanding. He intended the International to provide a periodic sample of contemporary art from which Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art could enrich its permanent collection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Catlett</span> American-born Mexican artist and sculptor (1915–2012)

Elizabeth Catlett, born as Alice Elizabeth Catlett, also known as Elizabeth Catlett Mora was an African-American sculptor and graphic artist best known for her depictions of the Black-American experience in the 20th century, which often focused on the female experience. She was born and raised in Washington, D.C., to parents working in education, and was the grandchild of formerly enslaved people. It was difficult for a black woman at this time to pursue a career as a working artist. Catlett devoted much of her career to teaching. However, a fellowship awarded to her in 1946 allowed her to travel to Mexico City, where she worked with the Taller de Gráfica Popular for twenty years and became head of the sculpture department for the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. In the 1950s, her main means of artistic expression shifted from print to sculpture, though she never gave up the former.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Hunt (sculptor)</span> American artist and sculptor (1935–2023)

Richard Howard Hunt was an American sculptor. In the second half of the 20th century, he became "the foremost African-American abstract sculptor and artist of public sculpture." Hunt, the descendant of enslaved people brought from West Africa through the Port of Savannah, studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1950s. While there he received multiple prizes for his work. In 1971, he was the first African-American sculptor to have a retrospective at Museum of Modern Art. Hunt has created over 160 public sculpture commissions, more than any other sculptor in prominent locations in 24 states across the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaim Gross</span> American sculptor and educator of Ukrainian Jewish origin (1902–1991)

Chaim Gross was an American sculptor and educator of Ukrainian Jewish origin. Gross studied and taught at the Educational Alliance Art School in New York City’s Lower Manhattan. He summered for many years in Provincetown.

Matthew Monahan is an American contemporary artist based in Los Angeles. He works in a variety of artistic disciplines that incorporate mixed media and found objects such as "foam, folded and crumbled construction paper," glass vitrines, and drywall. His work references art history and literature, recalling the works of modernists such as Constantin Brancusi and Marcel Duchamp. His sculptures and installations often combine modernists refences with figurative "fragments of ancient, mainly Greco-Roman statues."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Rosati</span> American artist

James Rosati was an American abstract sculptor. He is best known for creating an outdoor sculpture in New York: a stainless steel Ideogram.

Erick Lawrence Swenson is an American figurative sculptor living and working in Dallas, Texas.

Melvin "Mel" Edwards is an American artist, teacher, and abstract steel-metal sculptor. Additionally he has worked in drawing and printmaking. His artwork has political content often referencing African-American history, as well as the exploration of themes within slavery. Visually his works are characterized by the use of straight-edged triangular and rectilinear forms in metal. He lives between Upstate New York and in Plainfield, New Jersey.

Irwin Kremen was an American artist who began making art while Director of the Duke University Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology, when he was 41, after earning a PhD six years earlier in clinical psychology at Harvard University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Harris (artist)</span> American artist

Jerry Harris was an abstract sculptor, collagist, and writer. Harris was primarily a constructivist sculptor, working in media such as wood, stone, bronze, fiberglass, clay, metal, mixed media, and collage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Thorsen</span> American painter and sculptor (born 1967)

Eric Thorsen is an American painter and sculptor known for his wildlife sculpture and fish carvings which have won him multiple awards at major art shows nationwide including "Best In World" at the 1992 World Taxidermy & Fish Carving Championships. At age 24 he is the youngest recipient of this award. Breakthrough magazine described him as "More than Promising" and his work has "an uncanny realism". Thorsen has appeared on TV shows and YouTube and his artwork can be found in prominent public spaces, private collections, and on product labels. He has been commissioned to create artwork for corporate entities such as Nike Inc.,Lowe's, Coca-Cola, Walt Disney Attractions, Inc. and national non profit groups. He is a resident of Bigfork, Montana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westmoreland Museum of American Art</span> Art museum in Pennsylvania, U.S.

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is an art museum in Greensburg, Pennsylvania devoted to American art, with a particular concentration on the art of southwestern Pennsylvania.

Paul Fjelde was a noted American sculptor and educator.

Lonnie Graham is a fine art photographer, professor, installation artist, and cultural activist investigating the methods by which the arts can be used to achieve tangible meaning in peoples lives. He is Professor of Visual Art at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, near State College, Pennsylvania. He has been the executive director of PhotoAlliance since August 2019. In January 2013, Graham spoke at the TEDxPSU symposium. His talk is available for streaming through YouTube.

vanessa german American artist

vanessa german is an American sculptor, painter, writer, activist, performer, and poet based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharif Bey</span> African American artist, ceramicist and professor

Sharif Bey is an African American artist, ceramicist, and professor. He produces functional pottery as well as ceramic and mixed-media sculptures using various forms and textures. His body of work reflects his interest in the visual heritage of Africa and Oceania and contemporary African American culture. With his colorful large-scale bead sculptures, Bey explores the cultural and political significance of ornamentation and adornment.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Lewis, David (1997). Thaddeus Mosley: African American Sculptor. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Art. pp. 11–81. ISBN   0-8229-5634-9.
  2. 1 2 Blake, Sharon S. (2012-01-23). "Pitt Celebrates Black History Month With World Premiere Screening of Thaddeus Mosley: Sculptor". Pitt Chronicle. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Bios of board members of The August Wilson Center for African American Culture (formerly the African American Cultural Center of Greater Pittsburgh)". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  4. 1 2 Heinrich, Will (February 17, 2023). "Thaddeus Mosley Never Stopped Working". The New York Times . Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  5. ↑ Cheek, Donald (December 8, 2018). "Group A Documentary". History Group A . Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  6. ↑ Thomas, M (20 September 2017). "Thaddeus Mosley among artists in Carnegie International 2018". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Ellen (2002-08-12). "Art Review: Inspired by nature and spirit, depth and fluff (Aug. 12, 2002)". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  8. ↑ Shaw, Kurt (June 22, 2002). "Sculptor wins award for commitment, passion for art". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
  9. ↑ "Monumental artworks take over the French capital". Art Basel. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  10. ↑ "Thaddeus Mosley in Paris+ sites section at the Musée National Eugène-Delacroix". Karma. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  11. 1 2 Cantrell, Scott (May 25, 2023). "Thaddeus Mosley's rugged wooden sculptures explore balances of forces at the Nasher". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Thaddeus Mosley: Forest". Baltimore Museum of Art. October 17, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  13. 1 2 Valentine, Victoria (September 2, 2020). "Pittsburgh Sculptor Thaddeus Mosley's Improvisational Methods and Modern Forms Channel the 'Essence of Good Jazz'". Culture Type . Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  14. 1 2 Brown, Jessica (May 13, 2023). "Thaddeus Mosley: Forest". Nasher Sculpture Center . Retrieved July 29, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.