20/10/2026
A sculpture that lets the light do the work ☀️
Sunlight catches the walnut wood of Ovidiu Maitec’s ‘Radar II’ (1970), bringing out its grain and shining through its openings. Look to the left and you’ll see those shapes repeated in light and shadow on the wall ✨
Maitec combined machine-like forms with traditional woodcarving. The openings, arranged in a symmetrical rhythm, allow light and air to pass through the sculpture, connecting it with the room around it.
Jim Ede first saw ‘Radar II’ at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1971 and bought it later that year. Two years later, Kettle’s Yard held a solo exhibition of Maitec’s work that helped establish the Romanian sculptor’s reputation in Britain.
Swipe to see the 1973 exhibition in a photograph by Edward Leigh 📷
Writing for the exhibition catalogue, Jim praised Maitec’s ability to show ‘the beauty of wood and the love of creating an object by hand’.
On your next visit, pause beside ‘Radar II’ and see what the light reveals.
Plan your visit here: https://ow.ly/aIfy50ZZnHj
Image 1: Ovidiu Maitec, ‘Radar II’, 1970. Photo: Paul Allitt.
Image 2: Exhibition of works by Ovidiu Maitec, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, 1973. © Kettle’s Yard Archive. Photo: Edward Leigh.
