Here, Castle's Chest of Drawers from 1966, so titled because of its resemblance to the human chest cavity. "I got to meet Castle a few years ago," explains Gordon, "and we talked about work from that period--the pieces that his original dealer Lee Nordness referred to as 'wandering forms.' Evan Snyderman of R20th Gallery in New York was representing his vintage work and through him I was able to look through hundreds of archival photos and publications about Wendell, but it was all quite scattered and ephemeral. So we started talking about a book."
Published to coincide with designer, artist, and visionary Wendell Castle's 80th birthday at the end of 2012, writer Alastair Gordon's biographical monograph of Castle's work is a juicy read, full of hyperbolic forms and insight into the studio of one idiosyncratic thinker. Gordon tells us that "I knew Wendell's work, vaguely, for quite a long time, but became increasingly interested in his biomorphic carved pieces when I was researching another book on psychedelic environments. I saw images of his amazing "Environment for Contemplation" (1969), a womb-like chamber carved from cherry that was part furniture, part sculpture, part architecture, and part hallucination." More on Alastair's journey to discover the man behind the myth; plus, a slideshow of notable Wendell Castle works.
Slideshow