Exhibition Guide
Tatum Scales
Audio
Thaddeus Mosley on His Process
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Video
Art Object Info
Tatum Scales fuses various global art histories and influences from across the African and Black Diaspora. Named for the American jazz pianist and composer Art Tatum (1909–1956), Mosely’s work draws inspiration from the virtuosity and improvisation of jazz, a genre rooted in Black American musical traditions. The tree-like forms similarly draw on the aesthetic of jagged Dogon ladders of Mali in Africa. Though made of a dense walnut, the sculpture seems weightless, conjuring an organicness reminiscent of the Pennsylvania forests of the artist’s home state.
Tatum Scales
Tatum Scales fuses various global art histories and influences from across the African and Black Diaspora. Named for the American jazz pianist and composer Art Tatum (1909–1956), Mosely’s work draws inspiration from the virtuosity and improvisation of jazz, a genre rooted in Black American musical traditions. The tree-like forms similarly draw on the aesthetic of jagged Dogon ladders of Mali in Africa. Though made of a dense walnut, the sculpture seems weightless, conjuring an organicness reminiscent of the Pennsylvania forests of the artist’s home state.