Tools As Art: The Hechinger Collection

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Roy Superior, Mr. Goody Two Shoes' Tool Shed, 1989
mixed media construction including wood, bone and brass
32 x 18 x 13 1/2 in

Born in 1934 in New York, Roy Superior earned a B.F.A. in illustration from the Pratt Institute, New York, in 1956 and an M.F.A. in painting and printmaking from Yale University in 1962. Superior's small-scale machine constructions have been included in gallery and craft exhibitions throughout the United States, including shows at the American Craft Museum, New York; "New Art Forms," an exhibition in Chicago; and "American Craft Armory." He has been awarded several grants from Hampshire College and was a Massachusetts Foundation for the Arts sculpture finalist. His highly detailed miniaturized machines offer social commentary, reflecting the absurdity of some of contemporary society's technological advances that seek to relieve individuals from the necessity of performing even the most basic tasks. Superior's witty and ingenious constructions combine skilled craftsmanship with references to tools and machines of earlier periods in history.