Decoy

Label Text Martin Puryear's work often deals with interior and exterior spaces, and his sculptures excel at drawing viewers into them. Decoy achieves this with a periscope-like protrusion emerging from a circular base. While the work at first seems relatively innocuous and modest, further investigation reveals an ominous suggestion of something lurking underneath the security of the horizontal plate, reminding us that a decoy is not what it seems. Puryear's sculptures combine the simplicity and gravity of Minimalism's basic geometric shapes presented on a human scale with a biomorphic quality derived from his use of organic forms and unique craftsmanship. As a youth, Puryear studied woodworking and learned to build things like guitars, furniture, and canoes. While this sculpture is made from cast iron, the grain of the original wood form is still evident, adding tactile warmth to the cool, industrial metal.
Published References"John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park", Lea Rosson DeLong, ed., Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, 1923, pp. 110-113

DimensionsOverall: 41 × 108 in., 4000 lb. (104.1 × 274.3 cm, 1814.4 kg.)

Accession Number 2015.17

Classificationssculpture

Provenance(Donald Young); John and Mary Pappajohn [purchased from previous, 1990]; Des Moines Art Center [gift from previous, 2015]