Wall Column

1980

Not on view

Buchanan created Wall Column in Macon, Georgia, where she added a few pinches of Georgia clay to concrete, and painted the resulting forms in a light patina of burnt sienna. Born and raised in North Carolina, Buchanan became interested in the notion of ruins both urban and rural in 1977. She began to construct cast-concrete blocks, or what she called "frustules," that emulated the rough erosion of weathered buildings. "Frustum" is a geometric term for the base of a cone whose tip has been cut off. The title Wall Column implies that the blocks were originally unified but then transformed into new forms out of a process of demolition.

Artwork Details

Title: Wall Column
Artist: Beverly Buchanan (American, Fuquay, North Carolina 1940–2015 Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Date: 1980
Medium: Concrete and paint
Dimensions: 1981.8a: 9 1/2 × 7 1/2 × 8 in., 39.2 lb. (24.1 × 19.1 × 20.3 cm, 17.8 kg)
1981.8b: 10 1/2 × 8 × 7 1/2 in., 45.2 lb. (26.7 × 20.3 × 19.1 cm, 20.5 kg)
1981.8c: 9 3/4 × 7 7/8 × 10 in., 44.9 lb. (24.8 × 20 × 25.4 cm, 20.4 kg)
1981.8d: 2 × 9 1/2 × 6 3/8 in., 6.8 lb. (5.1 × 24.1 × 16.2 cm, 3.1 kg)
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchase, Mrs. Wilson Nolen Gift, 1981
Object Number: 1981.8a-d
Rights and Reproduction: Jane D. Bridges
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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