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A black man with a white goatee looks into the camera with a small smile. He is wearing a patterned cap and a checkered sweater over a tan collared shirt and is seated in his studio with wooden sculptures arranged behind him.

Photo by Jason Schmidt; courtesy of the artist and Karma.

Artists

Thaddeus Mosley

He // Him // His

Sculptor

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

“Brancusi was a Romanian sculptor living and working in Paris. African art was a confirmation and an extension of a tradition he was already working in. In much the same way, Brancusi and Noguchi are important to me because they confirm and extend what I do.”
Thaddeus Mosley is a Pittsburgh-based, self-taught artist whose monumental sculptures are crafted with the felled trees of Pittsburgh’s urban canopy via the city’s Forestry Division. Using only a mallet and chisel, Mosley reworks salvaged timber into biomorphic forms. With influences ranging from Isamu Noguchi to Constantin Brâncuși — and the Bamum, Dogon, Baoulé, Senufo, Dan, and Mossi works of his personal collection — Mosley’s sculptures mark an inflection point in the history of American abstraction.

Donor -This award was generously supported by David Horvitz and Francie Bishop Good.

This artist page was last updated on: 07.12.2024

Visual Art
Photo of a sculpture formed from several pieces of wood in which the grain and natural shapes are still visible. The pieces are balanced together into a tower evoking a group of acrobats.

Inverted Dancer, 2020.

Photo courtesy of the artist and Karma.

Photo of a tall wooden sculpture made of several pieces. At the top, a piece juts out like a horn, while another curves down like a banana.

Illusory Progression, 2020.

Photo courtesy of the artist and Karma.

Photo of a wooden sculpture formed of two curved pieces of wood resting together in a keyhole shape. Carving marks and woodgrain are visible on the surface.

Katz Kurve, 2021.

Photo courtesy of the artist and Karma.