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Martin Puryear (artist) American, born 1941 Lever No. 3, 1989 carved and painted wood overall: 214.6 x 411.5 x 33 cm (84 1/2 x 162 x 13 in.) Gift of the Collectors Committee 1989.71.1 |
This sculpture alludes simultaneously to mechanical, animal, and vegetable forms, though its title Lever No. 3, suggests that the long tapering form extending some seven feet out from the main body should be read as an industrial tool or simple machine. The son of a post office supervisor and a grade school teacher, Martin Puryear was born and raised in Washington, D.C. The eldest of seven children, he demonstrated an ability for drawing, painting, and carpentry at an early age. He was also fascinated by nature and had the youthful ambition of becoming a wildlife illustrator. After receiving a college degree in art, Puryear joined the Peace Corps and served in Sierra Leone, Africa, teaching English, French, and biology. His time in Africa played a critical role in the development of his art, for he was exposed to African craftsmanship and woodworking methods. Puryear's African heritage informs his art in so far as he reveres the strongly expressive forms of tribal wooden sculpture. But he does not relate his works to the collective African American experience, stating that the role of the artist is necessarily solitary and insular, whether the artist is black or white, male or female.