Easiest my favorite piece from the deYoung Museum is John Cederquist‘s Conservation Chair, created in 1998. This thing was absolutely mind-blowing, and it was definitely interesting to hear an intelligent 8 year old girl (who was later reprimanded by her mother for asking what a “rave” was) give her analysis about the great perspective used in the chair.
Made from Baltic birch plywood, Sitka spruce, maple, epoxy resin, oil-based inks, and aniline dye. (Some of the material list is incomplete — apologies on that.)
This chair made such a great impression on me that I had to see more of Cederquist’s work, and I am NOT disappointed. My mind is completely and utterly blown by this man’s skills in using unique shapes and careful pigmentation to create a sense of movement on otherwise flat surfaces. AMAZING. (Those pipes in the photo above are NOT round, my friends. They are flat pieces of wood painted to look round.)
Visit his website at johncederquist.com to see more of his mind-blowing work. We didn’t get permission to post the images, or we would. But. GO. It will not disappoint.