Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 3

John Whitehead
"Cubexistentialism" geometric sculpture

2017

$16,000
£12,215.57
€13,991.10
CA$22,415.93
A$25,063.75
CHF 13,146.98
MX$303,582.19
NOK 165,954.82
SEK 156,787.20
DKK 104,429.72

About the Item

Mirror polished stainless steel. Inspired by David Smith's "Cubi" series, this sculpture juxtaposes cubes and 90 degree-angled square tubes to exhibit patterns, shapes, and negative spaces with asymmetric balance. The vertical arrangement gives the sculpture a flow of angles and open spaces, resulting in harmony and balance. John Whitehead was born in Demerara, Guyana. He came to the United States at age five and grew up in various inner-city neighborhoods on the west side of Oakland, California. Whitehead’s formal training in art began at Hoover Middle School in West Oakland, but he didn’t feel seriously challenged by his art classes there. At McClymonds High School in West Oakland, he was most fortunate to have Richard Davies as a dedicated and extraordinarily talented art teacher. Under his astute tutelage, John was exposed to a whole new approach to art, which emphasized geometric abstraction, constructivist art, and abstract expressionist sculpture. Whitehead pursued his post-secondary education first at U,C, Berkeley, where he obtained his B.A. in economics with a minor in art, and then at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he received his M.A. in economics. During his professional career teaching university level economics and statistics, he continued to develop his keen interest in and passion for contemporary art, and more specifically sculpture. These were formative years for the artist. From 2010 to 2020, Whitehead’s body of work mainly consisted of mirror-polished stainless steel and aluminum sculpture balancing varying geometric shapes, patterning curves, and negative spaces. The design, boundaries, and perceived movements of many of these pieces were influenced by David Smith’s “Cubi” series, Fletcher Benson’s “Folded-Circle” series, and George Rickey’s “Cluster of Cubes” sculpture, and other works in the abstract expressionist and constructivist traditions. As a result, these sculptures reflect a high level of geometric abstraction and often contain objects that are perched precariously atop each other, appearing to defy gravity and/or displaying a balance/imbalance dynamic. Recently, Whitehead has been broadening his sculptural work to include the geometric aspects of his past works combined with a variety of contemporary African diasporic and cubist artistic paradigms. John Whitehead is one of only a few African American geometric abstract sculptors currently working in the U.S.
  • Creator:
    John Whitehead (Guyanese, American)
  • Creation Year:
    2017
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 10.5 in (26.67 cm)Depth: 10.5 in (26.67 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Glen Ellen, CA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU71215057892

More From This Seller

View All
"Interlocking Synergy" geometric abstract sculpture
Located in Glen Ellen, CA
Mirror polished stainless steel. This sculpture features several geometric patterns also found in Whitehead's "Cubexistentialism" piece. Ninety degree-angled square tubes are formed...
Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Stainless Steel

"Cubi Libre" abstract geometric sculpture
Located in Glen Ellen, CA
Stainless steel and aluminum with illusion cherry powder-coat. Dimensions include the base. In this exquisite sculpture, suitable for both indoor and outdoor placement, John Whitehe...
Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Stainless Steel, Metal

"Geom-Et-Cetera" abstract sculpture
Located in Glen Ellen, CA
Mirror polished stainless steel. John Whitehead's first standing geometric abstract sculpture, this piece is a montage of intersecting geometric shapes in 3D space. Various patterns...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Geometric Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Stainless Steel

"Without Limits" geometric stainless steel sculpture
Located in Glen Ellen, CA
Mirror polished stainless steel. This sculpture is one of the last works in John Whitehead’s "Freedom/Progres" series. It highlights several cube-shaped prisms, each with three per...
Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Stainless Steel

"Homage to Fletcher Benton" geometric abstract sculpture
Located in Glen Ellen, CA
Mirror polished stainless steel. Inspired by internationally renowned sculptor Fletcher Benton's "Double Folded Circle" sculpture (2002), this piece by John Whitehead contains cylin...
Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Stainless Steel

"Cleopatra's Cobra" abstract geometric sculpture
Located in Glen Ellen, CA
Mirror polished stainless steel and powder coated stainless steel. A vertical composition of four octahedrons between a snaking arrangement of half-round tubes perfectly joined end...
Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Stainless Steel

You May Also Like

Constructivist contemporary modern cube sculpture Homage to Bach
By Haringa + Olijve
Located in Doetinchem, NL
Homage to Bach is a unique small size contemporary modern cube sculpture by the famous Dutch artist couple Nel Haringa and Fred Olijve. The cube sculpture consists of a few dozen han...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Plexiglass

Constructivist contemporary modern cube sculpture Composition BRGT
By Haringa + Olijve
Located in Doetinchem, NL
Composition BRGT is a unique small size contemporary modern cube sculptures of a new series by the famous Dutch artist couple Nel Haringa and ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Plexiglass

Constructivist contemporary modern cube sculpture Homage to Bach
By Haringa + Olijve
Located in Doetinchem, NL
Homage to Bach is a unique small size contemporary modern cube sculpture by the famous Dutch artist couple Nel Haringa and Fred Olijve. The cube sculpture consists of a few dozen han...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Plexiglass

Stack I : contemporary modern geometric sculpture
Located in New York, NY
Greg Chann creates contemporary modern abstract geometric sculptures. His constructions are complex interwoven systems of physical elements varying in size, material, and color. Thes...
Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Acrylic

Stack IV : contemporary modern geometric sculpture
Located in New York, NY
Greg Chann creates contemporary modern abstract geometric sculptures. His constructions are complex interwoven systems of physical elements varying in size, material, and color. Thes...
Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Acrylic

Constructivist contemporary modern cube sculpture Boogie-woogie
By Haringa + Olijve
Located in Doetinchem, NL
Boogie-woogie is a unique small size contemporary modern cube sculpture by the famous Dutch artist couple Nel Haringa and Fred Olijve. The cub...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Plexiglass