Photos/John W ilson W hite, Phocasso, San Francisco.
pages filled w ith the precisely rendered
drawings that serve as studies for pieces
o f jew elry. A few o f these idiosyncratic
creatures, vastly enlarged, decorate the gal-
lery w alls, drawn there by M etcalf himself.
T h e jarring experience o f meeting these
cartoony figures face to face adds a spark o f
irreverent levity to the starchy perfection
o f the presentation and sets in motion a line
o f thought about whether w e, too, might
be little figures watched over by someone,
or something, much larger.
M e tcalf alludes to such an idea in his
First Theology Lesson
and
Second Theology
Lesson,
both 1998, each featuring a golden,
god-like hand reaching tow ard one o f his
hom ely protagonists. A n gels appear in
several pieces, either flyin g in pursuit o f
love or, in
Advent o f the Damaged Angel,
1997, grounded by desire, pride or am bi-
tion. A t tim es, the architectural environ-
ments M e tcalf has made for these figures
suggest tin y stages on w hich variations
o f a modern passion play are being enacted.
T h e ineffectual bodies o f these creatures
imbue them w ith a helplessness in the face
o f adversity—or their ow n failings. A s
M e tc a lf puts it in his essay for the exh ibi-
tion catalog, “A typical story about anxi-
ety is the trajectory o f unintended conse-
quences.
... I im agine the outcom e o f these
sorry adventures as cacti: large, prickly,
and im possible to touch. Y et touch them
w e m ust.” One can infer from other pieces
that there is alw ays the possibility o f re-
dem ption, especially through m aking or
doing. M e tc a lf’s tin y men (and wom en)
hammer nails, paint pictures, w ield a shov-
el, play the banjo. T h e y nurture each o th -
e r-o ffe r sustenance, a helping hand, a
m inuscule Band-A id. A series o f carved
figures covered in gold leaf collectively
reinvent a sym bolic language o f affection
and com m itm ent. T iltin g their heads—ve g -
etal form s inspired by seeds, flowers and
leaves—they cavort gently w ith musical in-
strum ents or gardening tools.
In a recent docum entary, M etcalf de-
scribed him self as having gotten involved
in making things through drawing. T he
important role that invention with a pencil
has played in his three-dim ensional w ork
is asserted by its presence in this show.
Though he w as interested in the study o f
architecture initially, M etcalf switched
his college major, at Syracuse U niversity,
to jew elry his junior year. T h e fact that
craft was still “ under the radar” in the late
1960s suited him just fine. He found the
leading avant-garde art m ovem ent o f the
tim e-Conceptualism , at its most polemical-
to be too restrictive. Paradoxically, becom -
ing a craftsm an offered greater freedom .
For nearly 40 years, he has taken advantage
o f the extraordinary liberty offered by the
confines o f function, materia] and exacting
technique, using it to invent a seem ingly
endless array o f em otionally charged situa-
tions. In his miniature world, w e become
as intimate w ith the details as he is, as w e
lean in close to find out w hat’s going on.
N ow if only w e could unleash these pieces
on the unsuspecting world outside the walls
o f a museum. +
The exhibition will travel to the M int Museum
o f Craft
+
Design, Charlot te, N C (February
21-May 10); Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue,
JVA (June 2 7 - October 18); and other venues.
The catalog is $32 hardcover, $23 paperback.
M e tc a lf has taken advantage o f the extraordinary liberty
offered by the confines o f fu n ctio n , m a teria l a n d
exacting technique, using it to in v en t a seem ingly endless
array o f em otionally charged situations.
feb/niaro9 american craft 04^
