At Art + Practice in Leimert Park, the new exhibition called “Thaddeus Mosley: Forest” consists of five abstract wooden sculptures by the 96-year-old Pittsburgh-based artist. Inspired by jazz and improvisation, Mosley hand-crafts all of his sculptures with simple tools — and no assistants — from felled timber he has collected over the years.
“The pieces really show the mark of his hands. The joints are not perfect. The surfaces aren't smooth. It really shows his process in this raw and unpretentious way,” says Lindsay Preston Zappas, editor-in-chief of Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles.
One of the works that specifically references jazz is “Off Minor,” a three-piece sculpture named after a Thelonius Monk song. “I really feel like he's going more for the mood and the feeling of the music and its surprising shifts and turns,” Zappas explains. “I think that piece almost defies physics. And all the while, we're seeing the chisel marks and hand of the artist to create a rhythm across the piece.”
See two views of Mosely’s Thelonius Monk-inspired walnut sculpture, “Off Minor.” Photo by Joshua White.
Zappas points out that Mosely has also been a longtime teacher of wood carving. “He's really interested in passing that skill on to a younger generation and making it more accessible and approachable for everyone.”
Mosely’s work can appear to defy physics with his use of cantilevering, in which he places the heaviest pieces in his sculptures on top. It’s unclear whether that’s meant to challenge himself or the viewer.
Of his abstract work, Zappas notes, “I think he's able to achieve these pieces that look like they're balancing really precariously. And part of that is just playing with the wood, the way that jazz musicians might play with the notes and riff off each other and get inspiration from what's in front of them.”