Description
John Whitehead sculpture: “The Numen of Wood”. African mahogany, walnut, and black powder coated stainless steel. 66.5″ x 13″ x 13″
Artist’s description: Four rotatable octahedrons are crafted from stepped layers of alternating high-grade mahogany and walnut wood. The octahedrons are meticulously honed, balanced, and attached to five black powder coated metal cubes. The two faces of each cube contain a cylindrical hole housing a stylized mahogany and walnut stepped insert. The five cubes are connected to each other by opposing metal arcs that display graceful S-curves and decorative stepped ends.
“The Numen of Wood” won second place in the 37th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition in California.
About the artist: John Whitehead was born in Demerara, Guyana. He came to the United States at age five and grew up in various inner-city neighborhoods on the west side of Oakland, California. At an early age, John showed a high appreciation and ability for visual arts, spatial relationships, and math.
John Whitehead attended McClymonds High School in West Oakland where an exceptional art teacher introduced him to geometric abstraction, constructivist art, and abstract expressionist sculpture. Encouraged by his teacher and his aunt, John entered and placed in several local art competitions.
Inspired by his family to pursue a career that would allow him to escape the trappings of inner-city poverty, John attended U.C. Berkeley, receiving his B.A. in economics with high honors and a minor in art in 1979. In 1986, he was awarded a master’s degree in economics with magna cum laude distinction from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
John Whitehead spent 25-years as a professor of economics at City College of San Francisco. Toward the end of this period he began to revisit his early passion and ability for visual arts. Now retired from teaching, John has successfully pivoted toward creating sculptures.
