About the Artist

Martin Puryear, born in Washington, D.C., received his MFA from Yale University in 1971. Puryear spent two years in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, followed by another two years at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts (1966-1968) studying printmaking.

Puryear has represented the USA at both the São Paulo Biennale (1989) and the Venice Biennale (2019). Puryear is a MacArthur Foundation Fellow and has received the National Medal of Art in 2012.

Martin Puryear's complex sculptures manipulate pure material into thoughtful expressions of form, utilizing wood and bronze to craft deeply personal artworks.