Is Martin Puryear the Most Influential American Artist Working Today?

Self-portraiture is commonly thought to be one of the most revealing genres of artmaking: In presenting an image of yourself to the world, you are baring it all, or so the thinking goes. What, then, is one to make of Martin Puryear’s 1978 sculpture Self? Composed of a large piece of carved mahogany topped off with a hunk of cedar, this work does not represent much. Its sinuous wooden surface stained a shade of black returns its viewer’s gaze with a whole lot of darkness.Self is a joy