Artist

John Cederquist

born Altadena, CA 1946
Media - portrait_image_113286.jpg - 90202
Also known as
  • John Carl Cederquist
Born
Altadena, California, United States
Active in
  • Capistrano Beach, California, United States
Biography

Born in Altadena, California, John Cederquist earned a B.A. degree in art in 1969 and an M.A. in crafts in 1971 at California State University at Long Beach. Since 1976, he has taught two- and three-dimensional design at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California.

Cederquist's involvement with the contemporary woodworking movement was largely influenced by Wendell Castle. Cederquist's early work adhered to the prevailing aesthetic of sculptural anthropomorphic forms that emphasized the qualities of wood. Fascinated by perspective and the illusion of depth and space that can be suggested on a two-dimenional plane, he began to explore imagery within the context of traditional furntiure forms, creating trompe-l'oeil illusions of ambiguity and disquieting presence. Cederquist draws his imagery from numerous graphic sources, including Japanese woodblock prints, comic strips, television, and advertising. In the mid-to late 1980s he began to use the image of classic American high chests in conjunction with shipping crates to create elaborate fractured images that bring to mind cubism.

Kenneth R. Trapp and Howard Risatti Skilled Work: American Craft in the Renwick Gallery (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art with the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998)

Works by this artist (2 items)

Boris Anisfeldt, Goat, ca. 1930-1940, pencil and pastel on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Otis Chatfield-Taylor in memory of her father Boris Anisfeldt, 1982.22
Goat
Dateca. 1930-1940
pencil and pastel on paper
Not on view
Boris Anisfeldt, Hispania, ca. 1914-1919, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Otis Chatfield-Taylor, 1976.120
Hispania
Dateca. 1914-1919
oil on canvas
Not on view

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