Thaddeus Mosley's work adds to the public art across Pittsburgh

The sweltering heat soared above 90 degrees in late August, but world-renowned artist Thaddeus Mosley moved with a cool and humble aura as he debuted four monumental bronze sculptures in a solo exhibition with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust on Thursday.

Mosley, 98, was calm and debonair in a linen sport coat, Vince Camuto dark-rimmed sunglasses and a raffia fedora.

This is his day, quite literally, as the city of Pittsburgh declared Aug. 29 “Thaddeus Mosley Day,” a proclamation read by city councilman Bobby Wilson on behalf of the sculptor’s son, councilman Khari Mosley.

The heavy sculptures — “Cross Current,” “Interior Decipher,” “Rhizogenic Rhythms” and “Illusory Progression” — sit atop white pedestals in an area near what is called the “Backyard,” where viewers have the opportunity to walk between the structures, giving the illusion of movement as they circle around them.

“It’s all about the concept of weight in space,” Mosley said of his work. “I say weight in space, and it is abstract. Some pieces were done in a different time.

“Any three-dimensional sculpture, the idea and the only way you can really see it is to walk around it,” he said. “In some cases, when I exhibit them, they are turned different ways, but that doesn’t matter. From any direction, you should be able to see it.”

Downtown at the intersection of Eighth Street and Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, art lovers and passersby can experience what curator Anastasia James, director of galleries and public art at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, calls an urban forest. The four life-size bronze sculptures, ranging from 6½ to 8½ feet, will be on view through Aug. 31, 2025.

“This moment marks the first significant installation of Thaddeus Mosley’s work in Downtown Pittsburgh,” James said. “I selected the second one in particular because you can really see the chisel marks and the different mark-making he did when working on the wooden sculptures. I am really humbled that we could bring this work here.”

James had seen Mosley’s work displayed on single pedestals or in tight groupings, but with this exhibition, it was important for her to give visitors the ability to walk around the sculptures and feel like they were in an urban canopy forest.

“We were very careful to orient them so that you could experience them from all angles,” she said.

The sculptures can be engaged with. Viewers have the ability to look and touch, feeling the grooves beneath their palms.

The installation, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust in collaboration with Karma, a modern and contemporary art gallery, creates opportunities for public art throughout the city.

Mosley’s daughter Lorna Mosley was the only one of his children able to attend. All of his children are involved in the art world in some way.

“We are all so proud of him,” Lorna Mosley said. “We all say this, because of his determination that we all be educated and exposed to art at an early age, we have a deeper appreciation for museums, art and artists as people. That really helped us.”

For Thaddeus Mosley, a self-taught artist, the process of creating his work is one of dedication. The process of working with bronze, which he began in 2020 so that his pieces could be displayed outside, is also intricate. Mosley uses wax casting — making a mold of the original piece using an ancient metalworking technique — so a replica is produced. The details of the replica are so precise that they include the chisel and gouge marks and Mosley’s signature.

Shyla Wilson, Ionna Reid and Naomi Davis, all 17-year-old students from CAPA, attended the debut and were inspired by the magnitude of the sculptures and the details.

“I really liked the texture. It looks smooth but bumpy, too,” Davis said.

“Viewing the sculptures was really cool. I like it,” said Reid, whose favorite medium is screen printing. Reid describes her art as chaotic, but the abstractness of Mosley’s work inspired her.

Friends like Nancy Washington spoke of Mosley’s steadfast devotion to his craft and his knowledge of art beyond his own medium. Washington spoke of his love for jazz. She reminisced about how she’d find Mosley often sitting at a table at James Street Café, enjoying jazz and listening away the hours. She said she now marvels when she sees a young waiter at Kingfly Spirits in the Strip District asking if Mosley would like his usual meal or drink.

“I had to show up for this great artist. He works 24/7, every single day, he works,” said Jo-Anne Bates, 86, an artist whose medium is mono-type abstract prints. The way Mosley works inspires Bates in her own craft. “I often say I’m not doing enough because he works all the time.”

On Sept. 7, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will honor Mosley with an inaugural ICON Award for his devotion to the arts and his life’s work at the Trust’s “The Big 40” Gala.

Mosley said that if it hadn’t been for the debut of the installation on Thursday morning, he would’ve been in his studio on the North Side.

“The idea that we have them Downtown in Pittsburgh, there isn’t a lot of public art like I’ve seen in other cities,” Mosley said. “It’s good that people can come down and see it.”