New York artist Warren King didn’t necessarily set out to be the “King of Cardboard” when he decided to become a full-time artist 12 years ago. He says he just chose to work with what was available.
“Not having any art training background, I just looked around and said, ‘Okay, what do we have around the house that we can use?’ So, we had moved around quite a bit and we had all kinds of moving boxes. Everyone has Amazon boxes, so it was just the material that was on hand that was free.”
The 56-year-old former structural engineer was the 2017 ArtPrize Asian Artist Award winner. His sculpture, Grandfather’s Friend, and Arrival Times, featured five cardboard figures sitting around a small table.
“The piece is about just how families gather around a family table to discuss mundane things, deep things, just all manner of things.”
The new short film, Warren King: King of Cardboard, featured on PBS’s In the Making series, will be screened Thursday at 6 pm at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, with King in attendance for a Q & A session immediately following.
“The film is around how my background in art and how I got into it and sort of the origin story and I’m excited to share that with people and see their reactions.”
The event is free and open to the public.
For a weekly dose of news right to your inbox, sign up for the WGVU newsletter.
