Mediacorp artist biography of martin puryear

American artist (born 1941)

Martin L. Puryear (born May 23, 1941) is an American artist known for his devotion to traditional craft.

Working in a variety of media, but primarily wood, his reductive technique and meditative approach challenge the physical and poetic boundaries of his materials.^{[1]: 54–57} The artist's Liberty/Libertà exhibition represented the United States at the 2019 Venice Biennale.^[2][3]

Life

Born in 1941 in Washington, DC, Martin Puryear began exploring traditional craft methods in his youth, making tools, boats, musical instruments, and furniture.^[5] After receiving a BA in Fine Art from the Catholic University of America in 1963, Puryear spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone.^{[6]: 168–197} From 1966 to 1968, he studied printmaking at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm, returning to the United States to enroll in the g