Lee DuSell (1927-2024) is perhaps best known to Everson audiences as the creator of the bronze sculpture Spiritual Freedom (1969) that graces the Museum’s Plaza, but he was also a prolific designer and woodworker. DuSell’s furniture has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, the Corcoran Gallery, and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Over a three-decade span, DuSell frequently collaborated with noted Japanese architect Minoru Yamasaki on a series of commissions that included the Ford Motor Company, Harvard University, and Reynolds Aluminum. DuSell particularly relished his contributions to religious shrines, chapels, and temples around the world.
DuSell served as the founding chairman of the Experimental Studios at the Syracuse University School of Art from 1965 until his retirement in 1992. Benediction honors DuSell’s work in wood during a particularly fertile period in the 1970s when his works became kinetic and interactive. This exhibition features large-scale works, including three rocking chairs containing musical elements powered by their rocking motion that were originally exhibited at the Everson in a 1980 solo exhibition. DuSell passed away in September of 2024, and is remembered not only for his innovative designs, but also for the formidable impact that he made on his students and community.
Lee DuSell, Rocking Chair Sculpture, 1980, Wooden rocking chair with kinetic and sonic elements, Estate of D. Lee DuSell
The Everson is supported by the Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation; the General Operating Support program, a regrant program of the County of Onondaga with the support of County Executive, J. Ryan McMahon II, and the Onondaga County Legislature, administered by CNY Arts; and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
