Airplane with Propeller1947–197244 × 44 × 41"Painted wood and metal, glassGift of Dorothea and Leo Rabkin1983.17.101531211324Matteo RadoslovichSculptureCopyright for this work is under review.West New YorkWest New YorkUnited StatesNew JerseyThree Dimensional WorksAdam ReichWest New YorkObject information is a work in progress and
may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the
American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgSCULPTURE“If it was a windy day, everything was moving,” the artist’s daughter remembers about Matteo Radoslovich’s backyard folk art environment. Throughout the twentieth century and earlier, self-taught masters have embellished their outdoor spaces with multi-media installations. Typically, a project begins humbly, with a wind toy or a bird-bath or a free-standing sculpture, and progressively grows to occupy every available space. It is also standard that while the initial motivation to create may be a personal and private act, as a folk art environment expands public awareness flourishes and these spaces can become community based; they may even become tourist destinations. They can be seen as contemporary versions of the eighteenth-century folly.
The West New York, New Jersey yard-art installation of more than thirty sculptures by Matteo Radoslovich, like so many folk art environments, is made of found material. Unlike many folk art installations, however, Radoslovich built his creation in the backyard yet attracted an audience nonetheless. The artist designed a star pattern in his backyard, and bordered it with his wind toys and sculptures made of wood scraps, glass jars, metal cans, and other sundry cast-offs depicting airplanes, animals, figures and whimsical characters. Radoslovich was able to approach art making in such an innovative and imaginative way because of his lifelong occupation as a ships’ carpenter, first in the former Yugoslavia and later in Hoboken, New Jersey.19471972 1983 17 1 Object information is a work in progress and
may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the
American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgSCULPTURE“If it was a windy day, everything was moving,” the artist’s daughter remembers about Matteo Radoslovich’s backyard folk art environment. Throughout the twentieth century and earlier, self-taught masters have embellished their outdoor spaces with multi-media installations. Typically, a project begins humbly, with a wind toy or a bird-bath or a free-standing sculpture, and progressively grows to occupy every available space. It is also standard that while the initial motivation to create may be a personal and private act, as a folk art environment expands public awareness flourishes and these spaces can become community based; they may even become tourist destinations. They can be seen as contemporary versions of the eighteenth-century folly.
The West New York, New Jersey yard-art installation of more than thirty sculptures by Matteo Radoslovich, like so many folk art environments, is made of found material. Unlike many folk art installations, however, Radoslovich built his creation in the backyard yet attracted an audience nonetheless. The artist designed a star pattern in his backyard, and bordered it with his wind toys and sculptures made of wood scraps, glass jars, metal cans, and other sundry cast-offs depicting airplanes, animals, figures and whimsical characters. Radoslovich was able to approach art making in such an innovative and imaginative way because of his lifelong occupation as a ships’ carpenter, first in the former Yugoslavia and later in Hoboken, New Jersey.