Untitled Sculpture - John Wharton
Where is it?
Ticketing Level
This sculpture is found across from Celentano's Spectrum Delta II and nearSeattle's Best Coffee.
About the Art
Wharton's sculpture, created in the early 1970s, suggests the qualities and effects of a futuristic board game. The two levels of clear acrylic planes are separated by a large and translucent pink block, suggesting a calculated and an aware balance. Little clear cubes are propped among slightly larger pink cubes as if they are frozen in a moment or as if the objects are without gravity. The sculpture is minimalist in nature, drawing influence and meaning from its current environment.
The Details
Artist
John Wharton
Date
1973
Medium
Sculpture (acrylic)
Dimensions
8' 6" high x 5' wide
About the Artist
Wharton was hired at the Phillips Exeter Academy in 1975 as the Art Department chair and gallery director. He soon provided his Minimalist influence to the department, teaching sculpture, drawing, painting, and art history while simultaneously banning horizontally lined paper. He appreciated the sense of space provided by Minimalist Art above all other qualities of the genre.
Short Bio
John Wharton was born in 1939 in Wildnes, England. He received his bachelor's degree from Princeton in 1960 and later earned his master's degree from New York University in 1961. He moved to Seattle to teach at Lakeside School, a private educational institution, for eight years. He retired from the Phillips Exeter Academy in 2000. Wharton passed away in 2009 at the age of 70.
Similar Artwork
At the Airport
Since 1969, Sea-Tac Airport has allocated a percentage of its construction and repair budgets to the incorporation of art. Wharton was one of the artists whose work was acquired in the early 1970s. Visit some of the other pieces that became part of the Port of Seattle collection in the same decade. Click on the STQRY links below to view works by Ted Jonsson and Robert Maki.
Connected Stories
Untitled Sculpture - John Wharton
This pinkish-salmon color in this sculpture is complemented by the same hue in Celentano's adjacent mural.