Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box

Who? "Armchair voyager" was the term that American artist and sculptor Joseph Cornell used to describe himself. It's an apposite one, as peering into the small assemblage, glass fronted shadow-boxes he has become famous for take viewers on a journey of discovery from Renaissance Italy to the celestial planes. Born in Nyack, New York in 1903, Cornell was almost an entirely self-taught artist and despite being fascinated with "the other" – other worlds, other…