Courtesy of Lynden Sculpture Garden
“Urban Wood Encounter” at the Lynden Sculpture Garden may initially feel like a show of rustic, high-end furniture pieces, but that only scratches the polished surface of what is really going on. The materials for the dozen or so exquisite tables, chairs, cabinets and more were sourced from urban trees cut down for reasons such as disease or age. Instead of the wood being dumped in a landfill, it was repurposed in the hands of remarkable furniture makers and designers.
Dwayne Sperber, founder of Wudeward Urban Forest Products in Delafield, is an organizing force behind the exhibition, along with Lynden Executive Director Polly Morris. A table by Sperber made of elm and butternut shows the subtle detail and craft that elevate these pieces from the merely functional and ordinary. The top is like a streamlined longboard and the curved legs on each side are offset to each other, giving the piece a distinct sense of movement, an energy that echoes the new life of the rescued materials.
Mike Jarvi and Greta de Parry show an ensemble of table and two chairs in Folded. Check the corners where the wood looks like luscious fabric, molded as though it is a graceful cloth covering the furniture surface. The pliability of wood is beautifully emphasized in Joseph Murphy’s floor-standing lamp, whose monumental arc ends in a vibrant red, Devo-esque lampshade.
Emerging artists contribute works in the Project Space, an additional room with furniture items coordinated by Miguel Ramirez. The pieces here are more modular, seeming to be assembled rather than carved or sculpted. The aesthetic is akin to IKEA with the use of metal supports, but still lovely for the emphasis on natural materials.
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Also on view are selections from the Bradley Family Foundation Collection, including modernist masters like Ellsworth Kelly, Alexander Calder and Barbara Hepworth. Her formidable Two Piece Marble (Rangatira) is a stunning sentinel in the Project Space. Along with exhibitions, the Lynden offers events including studio activities for kids, ice skating on the pond, and ways of enjoying an aesthetically pleasing winter indoors and out.
Urban Wood Encounter continues through Feb. 21 at the Lynden Sculpture Garden, 2145 W. Brown Deer Road.
