Artist

J. Fred Woell

born Evergreen Park, IL 1934-died Deer Isle, ME 2015
Media - woell_j_fred.jpg - 90569
Courtesy J. Fred Woell
Also known as
  • James Frederick Woell
  • James Fred Woell
  • Fred Woell
Born
Evergreen Park, Illinois, United States
Died
Deer Isle, Maine, United States
Biography

J. Fred Woell was told by the art galleries of New York to “use gold or forget it.” The artist felt strongly that material should not determine a work’s value, and so began to create “anti-jewelry.” He explores themes of consumerism and violence in his humorous assemblages of discarded objects.

Works by this artist (3 items)

Emanuel Martinez, Farm Workers' Altar, 1967, acrylic on mahogany and plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the International Bank of Commerce in honor of Antonio R. Sanchez, Sr., 1992.95
Farm Workers’ Altar
Date1967
acrylic on mahogany and plywood
On view
Emanuel Martinez, Tierra o Muerte, 1967, screenprint on manila folder, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1996.8, © 1967, Emanuel Martinez
Tierra o Muerte
Date1967
screenprint on manila folder
Not on view
Emanuel Martinez, Cesar Chavez, n.d., pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Haynes Family, Jorge, Roxanne, Rebecca and Ben, 1998.155
Cesar Chavez
Daten.d.
pencil on paper
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.11 - SAAM-2016.11_6 - 124929
Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery
November 13, 2015March 6, 2022
Connections is the Renwick Gallery’s dynamic ongoing permanent collection presentation, featuring more than 80 objects celebrating craft as a discipline and an approach to living differently in the modern world.