Mel Kendrick ─ Woodblocks

Marking the artist’s first major publication in his 30-year-plus career, Mel Kendrick: Woodblocks presents a collection of the American artist’s wood block prints and water drawings.


Produced over a period from the early 1990s to the present day, Kendrick’s prints explore bold yet complex arrangements, all the while introducing the subtle grain of the wood, signifying the organic quality of the artist’s creative process. These large-scale prints, typically measuring 3 x 2 metres in size, are largely informed by the artist’s ongoing sculptural practice, in both spatial engagement and process.


Kendrick’s work is discussed within the book through texts that investigate the relationship that the works hold with both architectural and artistic influencers, as well as with his well established sculptural practice, through which he has a storied history of using wood, bronze, rubber, paper and cast concrete.

Kendrick’s first solo show at Artists Space was in 1974 and since then, he has shown in close to 50 solo shows and numerous group shows. In 1984, his work was included in the “The International Survey of Painting and Sculpture” at the Museum of Modern Art and the following year in the Whitney Biennial. In 2008, he was awarded the Francis J. Greenburger Award and other honors include the Academy Award for Art from the American Academy of Arts.Kendrick's work can be found in numerous permanent collections including; the Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Storm King Art Center, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Yale University Art Gallery.