The Cut2Size Angle

Over the Memorial Day weekend, we had the opportunity to visit Louisville’s 21c Museum, billed as “North America’s only museum devoted solely to art of the 21st century.” In addition to the interactive exhibitions, concerts, film screenings, and many other activities there, we snapped a few shots of pieces that intrigued us.

Elastic Empire State

The first picture is an aluminum sculpture by Alex Arrechea called Elastic Empire State, which was commissioned by the museum in 2011 and is one of a series of rolled building sculptures. They are intended as a satirical depiction of the “fluctuations in economics through the metaphor of modified architecture.” (I’m still waiting for that sharp economic upturn indicated by the spire of the building).

American Appeal Bridge

Next, artist Yoan Capote uses paint, fish hooks, and nails to create American Appeal (Bridge).  Everything in the picture that is black is a hook, resulting in what must be thousands of metal fish hooks on the canvas.

The final picture is a three-dimensional “tornado” of metal objects, suspended in space a two-story atrium. [Update: Thanks to a friend of the Cut2Size Angle, we now know this piece is Anne Peabody's Wheel of Fortune.  Peabody's arresting sculpture is made from carved wooden items like broken eggs and flashlights, and combined with found bits of glass to form a massive funnel cloud reminiscent of the one that leveled much of Louisville over 30 years ago.]

Wheel of Fortune

We didn’t see any artist information, but if someone knows, please post a comment and we will update this post. There were a number of other exhibits that were really hands-on and appropriate for kids, and a boutique hotel and celebrated restaurant called Proof attached if you want to make a day of it.

We often get to work with artists here at Cut2SizeMetals.com, and it is an exciting challenge.  A number of our projects have involved aluminum plate and stainless steel plate; you can see them here and here.  Like the POD sculpture in Portland,  here is another piece we ran across in our travels.

This bronze lady is seated in front of the Institut Hongrois de Paris (Hungarian Institute of Paris),  and was sculptured by Hungary’s own Andras Lapis.  Although not on a major thoroughfare, we were surprised how many others have stumbled across it while visiting Paris.  It is known as Sous le Chapeau, or Under the Hat, and we had to be quite close before we realized it wasn’t an actual woman,  so painstakingly was it sculpted.  Enjoy!

The bronze sculpture Sous le Chapeau (Under the hat) by Andras Lapis.

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We enjoy doing architectural and artistic metal projects (see a few of them here), and so we like to share others we find in our travels.  If you’ve ever been to Powell’s Books in downtown Portland, you’ve seen this stainless steel, titanium, and bronze sculpture by Peter Beeman.  Intended to represent the “infrastructure, energy, and vibrancy of Portland, this sculpture is made complete when a passer-by gives the pendulum a push.”  We couldn’t get it to budge, but it’s still a pretty dramatic addition to a busy downtown intersection.

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