Recent Acquisition: #1026 by Garry Knox Bennett

The Asheville Art Museum is pleased to announce the recent gift of 40 artworks from the collection of John & Robyn Horn, which features important examples of modern and contemporary American craft including woodworking, pottery, metalsmithing, and fiber. A sculpture entitled #1026 by Garry Knox Bennett from 2007 is a highlight among this recent gift.

Garry Knox Bennett, a multimedia artist and American Craft Council Fellow, was a skilled furniture maker, woodworker, and metalworker. Bennett died earlier this year at the age of 87. Bennett’s experimentation in his work is what drove his notoriety and his passion for creating art. He often chose unexpected materials from which to sculpt and thereby produced playful works of art. In the artwork joining our Collection featured here, #1026, Bennett uses madrone burl wood known for its round bumps and fanciful curlicue patterns to create a squared off sculpture that resembles a maze. The maze is not perfectly square though, as it spirals inward each level gets tighter and a little more off center. The work is also not flat, rather as the wood gets closer to the center, the layers start to lift like a spring. #1026 not only illustrates Bennett’s skillful talent but also allows his whimsical nature to gloriously—and almost literally—leap out at the viewer.  —WR

Renowned American artists gifted to the Museum in this collection from John & Robyn Horn include Hoss Haley, Lissa Hunter, Stoney Lamar, Kari Lonning, Mary Merkel-Hess, Albert Paley, Don Reitz, Kay Sekimachi, Bob Stocksdale, and Toshiko Takaezu.