Tools As Art: The Hechinger Collection

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H.C. Westermann, The Slob, 1965
hammer, nails, aluminum
22 x 4 1/2 x 41/2 in.

H.C. Westermann was born in Los Angeles in 1922 and died in 1981. The early work of this master of assemblage, which embodied a Dada-Surrealist ethos, anticipated by Pop Art by nearly a decade. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1947 to 1954, working off and on as a carpenter, a plasterer, and a general handyman. In 1953 he began making sculptures. His works from the early 1950s, such as a series of carved "Death Ships," were inspired by his war experiences. Around 1956 he started a series of eccentric "houses" or "towers" that served as containers for feelings and dreams. In the 1960s he explored mock-heroic imagery, like his deified Coca-Cola bottle. Other sculptures depict sinister robot gods or refer to such diverse elements as ships' helms, tables, and boxes. After 1957 he exhibited frequently in the United States, especially in Chicago, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. His mature work continues to be marked by irony and paradox as well as exquisite craftsmanship.