Little Bent Memphis
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View on museum website →Medium
glass and steel cable
Dimensions
overall installed: 106.68 x 233.68 x 12.7 cm (42 x 92 x 5 in.) overall (box for glass): 59.7 x 92.7 x 26.7 cm (23 1/2 x 36 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CMC
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Edward R. Broida
Accession Number
2005.142.33
Art Historical Context
**Little Bent Memphis** (1971) is a delicate sculpture by Christopher Wilmar, an American artist renowned for his innovative use of glass in the minimalist tradition of the late 1960s and early 1970s. at 106.68 x 233.68 x 12.7 cm, this work exemplifies Wilmarth's fascination with light, space, and transparency. Crafted from bent glass panels suspended by taut steel cables, it creates an ethereal presence, transforming ambient light into shifting veils of color and shadow invite viewers to experience the sculpture as a dynamic interplay rather than a static object. The medium's significance li...
About the Artist
Christopher Wilmarth
Christopher Wilmarth (1943–1987) was a visionary American sculptor whose ethereal works captured the interplay of light and shadow through glass and steel. Born on June 11, 1943, in Sonoma, California, he grew up in Sonoma County and Palo Alto before moving to New York City in the early 1960s. There, he honed his craft at The Cooper Union, earning a B.F.A. in 1966. Wilmarth's early career included...