Artwork copyright Martin Puryear. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Martin Puryear. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission.

Artwork copyright Martin Puryear. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Martin Puryear. Photo courtesy of the University of Washington, by Anne Mathern.

Artwork copyright Martin Puryear. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Martin Puryear. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Everything that Rises, 1996

Martin Puryear
(American, born 1941)

Location: University of Washington, Seattle

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Celebrated artist Martin Puryear created the cast bronze sculpture Everything that Rises for the Physics and Astronomy Plaza at the University of Washington in Seattle. It was fabricated of a rich, copper-colored bronze by Kentucky's Vendome, Inc., a company known more for their fabrication of distillery tanks than artwork. The piece is radially symmetrical, 23 feet tall, and weighs 8,000 pounds. Puryear chose the size and material to relate to the surrounding buildings.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with University of Washington.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Martin Puryear creates sculpture in a variety of media. His work combines traditional craftsmanship with modernist abstraction. He is inspired by ordinary objects and the natural world.

Puryear has taught at Fisk University in Nashville and University of Maryland. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture at Yale University in Connecticut. In 2019, he represented the United States at the Venice Biennale international art exhibition in Italy. Puryear is based in the Hudson Valley, New York.