Heavy Metal From The MAM Collection

This lobby exhibit features four pieces of steel sculpture by two accomplished artists: Ted Waddell and Manuel Izquierdo (1928-2009). Raised in the wide open of Eastern Montana, Ted Waddell is well-known today for his expressionistic and lush canvases portraying the windswept ranchlands of his upbringing.

These two stainless steel sculptures show the skill and versatility of Waddell, made when he was Associate Professor of Art at the University of Montana from 1968-1976. Manuel Izquierdo was an honored artist and teacher in Portland, OR, who recently passed away. Raised in Madrid, Spain, Izquierdo and his family fled the chaos following the Spanish Civil War, relocating to the United States in 1942. He studied art at the Portland Museum School, where he would become a faculty member influencing several generations of students. These two wry and humorous steel sculptures were recently donated to MAM by Izquierdo’s estate and display his skills as a sculptor and powerful eye for abstraction. These four works crafted in the 1970s show two master artists, one hitting his stride in Montana and the other comfortably established as a dynamic force in the Oregon art scene.