The Long Beach Museum of Art (LBMA) will feature the work of one of the world’s most renowned wood sculpture artists, Frank E. Cummings III, in its latest exhibit entitled Jeweled Harmony in Wood.
Cummings, a Long Beach State professor as well as a former National Endowment of the Arts advisor, is known for his wood vessels formed on the lathe, a tool which essentially rotates a single piece—in the case of Cummings’s work, wood—on an axis to make whatever formation the worker is aiming for. Once he done with his main wood piece, he then tacks on gems and metals, giving his work a House of Faberge feel and look.
“Frank Cummings’s works are simply stunning,” said Ronald Nelson, executive director of LBMA in a statement. “His use of diverse woods, reflective gold and precious gems creates extraordinary pieces that make him a singular figure in the art world. We are grateful for his generosity in sharing his vision, talents and spirit with our community.”
The LBMA will feature over twenty of his works, from the famed vessels to furniture pieces. The exhibit running from November 22 to February 23 of next year, which will mark Cummings’s 40th anniversary in regard to the museum, where he held his first solo museum exhibit in 1974. His masterful work has also been featured at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the White House, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
A fully illustrated color catalogue accompanies the exhibition with an essay by Gerald W. R. Ward, Senior Consulting Curator and the Katharine Lane Weems Senior Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture Emeritus, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston with generous funding from the Pasadena Art Alliance and the Norris Foundation.
The Long Beach Museum of Art is located at 2300 E Ocean Blvd. Galleries and store are open Thursdays 11AM-8PM and Friday through Sunday 11AM-5PM. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for students and seniors age 62 and older, free for Members and children under 12, and free for everyone on Thursday evening from 5PM-8PM and all day on Friday. For more information, call (562) 439-2119 or visit www.lbma.org.
Photo courtesy of the Long Beach Museum of Art.
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