It is about the laying on of hands, putting mind to material and divining the form it should take; the slow, sensuous bending of wood and wire, the transformation of history, images, and cultures into objects so infused with this heady multiplicity they nearly speak.

An artist with the rare gift of subtle and sophisticated reserve, Martin Puryear charges his works with the containment of energy, impulse, and gesture. Self, 1978, rises from the floor, a dark brooding fin or lump. Initially, the sheer volume and mass of the work create a feeling of immobility and impenetrability, and yet this giant