Joseph McDonnell is a widely exhibited and commissioned Modernist sculptor who moved to Seattle in 1998 from New York. “From Amulet to Monument,” his recent survey exhibition, covered work from 1971 to the present, concentrating on smaller-scale pieces, maquettes, pedestal sculptures, and two glass chandeliers. Executed mostly in fabricated bronze or stainless steel, the 21 objects provided an opportunity for viewers to trace the evolution of his work before and after his studies at the Fine Arts Academy in Florence and at the Harvard School of Design, where he briefly studied architecture. The exhibition was supported by an earlier publication with essays by dealer Andre Emmerich, sculpture photographer David Finn, and critic Donald Kuspit. They set McDonnell in a mid-century modern tradition that includes David Smith, Anthony Caro, George Sugarman, and Frank Stella, all of whose works are reflected in McDonnell’s…see the entire review in the print version of May’s Sculpture magazine.
