Gathering Chair (East & West)

Jack Larimore is a central participant in Philadelphia’s handcrafted-furniture renaissance.  He is known for masterfully crafted surfaces with both scarred and smooth textures, and for color that ranges from natural wood tones to deeply tinted patinas.

Grand and colorful as two African chieftains' thrones, the sculptural chairs, titled Gathering Chair(East & West), embody a sense of occasion that is just right for this space.  Like ceremonial guardians of this important entryway, they appear to greet those who gather here.

Larimore‘s furniture often seems to exist halfway between the plant and the animal worlds.  These "gathering chairs" could be seen as giant seed pods, with white sprouts spiraling upward, or as fantasy figures, with rounded bellies below and antelope-like horns above.  At the top of each chair back, are those orange circles a pair of eyes?  However you interpret these works, they feel alive enough to start moving.

Commissioned by the Pennsylvania Convention Center