Martin Puryear's C.F.A.O., 2006-2007, painted and unpainted pine and found wheelbarrow. Courtesy the artist and Donald Young Gallery, Chicago. © 2008 Martin Puryear. Photo Richard P. Goodbody

When Martin Puryear visited the National Gallery of Art last week for the press opening of his retrospective show, he spoke about how he grew up in Washington, and as a child would often visit the gallery. He didn’t imagine that one day the museum would host a large exhibition of his sculptures, but the works seem made for the space: the 36-foot-tall Ladder for Booker T. Washington reaches up into the rotunda of the West Building, and six sculptures in the East Building look as though they've been sitting there forever. Forty other works are located in the West Building.

Puryear's sculptures use wood, wire, tar and found objects, and elements of sculpture and architecture are present in his work. An avid traveler who went to Sierra Leone with the Peace Corps, visited Scandinavia and Japan and worked with Alexander Calder in France, Puryear incorporates craft traditions from around the world in his sculptures.

C.F.A.O., pictured right, is made with a wheelbarrow Puryear found in 1993 while working as an artist-in-residence at Calder's studio in Saché, France, an impression of a mask made by the Fang people of Gabon, West Africa, and pieces of wood that mimic a ritual headdress. The initials stand for “Compagnie Française de l'Afrique Occidentale,” a French trading company that sailed between Marseilles and West Africa. While in the Peace Corps, Puryear found those initials emblazoned on an abandoned warehouse.

One room consists of six works from Puryear’s Ring series. The large rings are mounted on the wall, and though each piece is a ring of approximately the same size, their distinctive qualities emerge in juxtaposition. Cerulean is made of blue polychrome pine, and Big and Little Same is an open ring in which the two ends nearly meet.

With natural elements so prevalent in his work, it almost feels as though you’ve stumbled into the woods of a fairy tale, where large, seemingly man-made objects appear out of nowhere. The exhibit is a great chance to see works by such an important and influential contemporary artist in his hometown.

Martin Puryear was organized by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and after it closes September 28 at the National Gallery, the show moves to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where it runs November 8, 2008 through January 25, 2009.

The National Gallery of Art is located on the National Mall between 3rd and 7th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW and is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.