The critical essays in this book characterize Wardlaw's work, placing it
in context with the significant art movements of his time, beginning
in1947 with non-objective painting and tracing his journey through six
decades of art making.Never confined by categories, Wardlaw explores
medium, form, scale, and color on his quest for creative and spiritual
resolution. From his Baptist and Native American roots to Judaism, from
the rural south to the urban northeast, from painting to sculpture and
back again, Wardlaw produced series after series of profound
artworks--an exploration across geographical, physical, intellectual,
philosophical, and spiritual boundaries.Wardlaw was a member of the
avant-garde art scene in New York City during the 1950s and 1960s and
went on to become an important figure in American art, driven by his
passion and desires rather than popular trends. His significant and
impressive body of work reveals a unique story, both personal and
universal, weaving one man's perspective into the larger canon of
twentieth-century art.
