Everyday mundane objects that are all 100% carved and painted wood.

On view at 303 Gallery in New York, artist Matt Johnson presents 4 cardboard boxes, 5 rolls of painters tape, 2 broken styrofoam chunks, and more garbage… that are all 100% carved and painted wood.
Installation view, Matt Johnson “Wood Sculpture” at 303 Gallery
Installation view, Matt Johnson “Wood Sculpture” at 303 Gallery
It’s perfection in replication: every wave of corrugation in the cardboard and every tiny pellet that makes up the styrofoam, had to be carved. The play on gravity is mind-boggling – while foam and cardboard appear as weightless as their original counterparts, the concrete bags at center stage look every bit as heavy as their 60 lb originals. Untitled (3M box), 2016
Untitled (Balancing Styrofoam Corner), 2016
Untitled (Balancing Styrofoam Corner), 2016 (detail)
Just a reminder, that all of this is wood.
Two Bags of Concrete (One on Top of the Other), 2016
The show is dryly titled “Wood Sculpture”, written clearly at the entrance. The gold standard was met on my first visit, when 2 women who had been in the gallery for over 5 minutes finally approached the front desk to ask where the wood sculptures were.
Untitled (Amazon Box), 2016
Untitled (Amazon Box), 2016 (detail)
In my view, ?material mimicry/translation?, whether in photo-real paintings or a cardboard box made from wood, is much more than a joke or an artist s...