New York
John Crawford, a Brooklyn-based artist whose output consists of welded steel sculptures, spent 10 years (1976–86) in Tuscany working at a blacksmith’s shop after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design. Since 1995, he has been interested in the smithing works of various West African cultures. As a result of these models, his work is highly tactile, abstract, and often totemic. Abstract steel sculpture has a long, illustrious history in the U.S., but Crawford’s vision is quite different. He borrows from the forms of other places to create work that openly relates to its making, as well as to the history of American creativity. Interestingly, there is a sensuality and organic quality to his forms, often made of rings and coils, somewhat at odds with their industrial construction. Such differences, however, thrive and meld in Crawford’s work. Crawford offered only one sculpture in his recent show. …see the entire review in the print version of July/August’s Sculpture magazine.
