Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft and Design

In furniture design, wood is considered the most traditional and therefore the most conservative of all materials. After all, the ancients crafted their furniture out of wood and it has been the principle furniture material for centuries. A new exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design, which I visited last week, offers a dramatic and new perception of wood, presenting it as a cutting-edge material in contemporary art and design.Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design features objects by artists, designers, and craftspeople from all over the world that harness new energy and fresh thinking. In their hands, wood is far from old-fashioned, but rather it's a progressive material, full of creative drive. These artists represent a spectrum of philosophy, but they all embrace wood to create fascinating, radical, and forward-looking objects.