Skip to main content

Sculptures that Stand Out from the Crowd


Melancholy. Albert György. Bronze. Lake Geneva. Geneva. Switzerland

 Before I embark on any trip, I always check the net for public art or street art in the cities I plan to visit, especially places I have been lucky to visit a few times. These searches give me options which I may otherwise have missed since these works of art are seldom listed on the "must see" lists. On my recent trip to Europe, I had the opportunity to see these sculptural pieces that beg explanation, are meaningful, controversial, poignant, thought provoking and Instagrammable (lol). These discoveries were lessons in art appreciation and added mileage to a deeply satisfying trip.

 Nothing represents emptiness better than this sculpture about melancholy. 

Inverted Collar and Necktie. Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen. Polymer concrete, steel, fiber-reinforced plastic. Westendstrasse 1. Frankfurt am Main. Germany.

 The tie as a "traditional part of office attire, its loosening could signify the relief felt by employees at the end of the workday", according to the artists. 

La Fourchette. Jean Pierre Haugg. Stainless steel. Lake Leman. Vevey. Switzerland. Commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Alimentarium, a food academy, museum and gourmet restaurant in Vevey.

A Broken Chair. Wood. Geneva. Daniel Berset, Sculptor. Louie Gèneve, Carpenter. Geneva. Switzerland. 

The chair is a reminder of the victims of landmines and cluster munitions. Installed in 1997 in front of the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, it continues to be a symbol of the "desperate cry of war torn populations".

L’ange Protecteur. Niki de Saint Phalle. Zurich Hauptbanhof. Zurich. Switzerland.

 Niki de Saint Phalle's works are widely recognized for their colorful and patterned sculpted women known as Nanas which embody the feminist spirit.

A Bouquet of Tulips. Jeff Koons. Polychromed bronze, aluminum and stainless steel. Petit Palais. Paris. France.

This is a memorial to the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris. It was "created as a symbol of remembrance, optimism and healing", according to the artist. But its installation in October 2019 was marked by controversy. The tulips have been compared to marshmallows and anuses. It has been called pornographic and other names. And in the short period since its installation, it has already been vandalized. 

I read that the Eiffel Tower was bitterly criticized in its infancy and called hideous, ugly and a barbaric industrial object.  Similarly, the Centre Pompidou was called a monster, shocking and insensitive.

 Life would be so boring without art.

 *****
Images by TravelswithCharie
Labels:
Location: Vevey, Switzerland

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Filipino Struggles in History - Carlos Botong Francisco

In 1968, Antonio Villegas (then Mayor of Manila), commissioned Carlos "Botong" Francisco to paint the history of Manila for Manila City Hall. The series of large scale paintings was called  Kasaysayan ng Maynila  (History of Manila).  The paintings deteriorated over time and no attempt was made to preserve these historical canvases until 2013 when Mayor Amado Lim sent them to the National Museum for extensive restoration. Four years later, in 2017, Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada and the Manila City Council signed an agreement with the National Museum to leave the paintings at the museum so they may reach a larger audience in exchange for museum grade reproductions to replace the originals. Kasaysayan ng Maynila was later renamed Filipino Struggles in History and is now on display at the Senate Hall of the National Museum . Carlos "Botong" Francisco died in March 1969, a few months after completing the paintings. He is one of the first Filipino modernists and
Post a Comment
Read more

The Art of Carlos Botong Francisco - Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Pre-colonial period Pag-unlad ng Panggagamot sa Pilipinas (The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines) is a group of four large-scale paintings depicting healing practices in the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the modern period. Carlos Botong Francisco was commissioned in 1953 by  Dr. Agerico Sison who was then the director of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with   Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing of the National Museum, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr. and Dr. Constantino Manahan. These oil on canvas paintings measure 2.92 meters in height and 2.76 meters in width (9.71 ft x 8.92 ft) and were displayed at the main entrance hall of PGH for over five decades. Owing to its location, the artworks were in a state of "severe deterioration" at the beginning of the 21st century from exposure to heat, humidity, dirt, dust, smoke, insect stains, grime, termites and an oxidized synthetic resin used in an earlier restoration. These canvases were restored three times, the last was
1 comment
Read more

8 Heritage Houses of Iloilo

Lizares Mansion The province of Iloilo on the island of Panay has a rich trove of heritage houses, left over from the sugar industry boom in the 19th century. Iloilo also had the largest port in the Philippines at that time which facilitated the export of sugar to foreign shores and deposited money in the hands of the sugar barons. The barons dropped their earnings into the acquisition of properties in Negros and the construction of beautiful homes in Iloilo, many of which are located in the vicinity of the Jaro Cathedral. The Lizares Mansion was built in 1937 by Don Emiliano Lizares for his wife, Concepcion Gamboa and five children. The family fled to safety when World War II broke out and the house was occupied by the Japanese military. The family returned to the house after the war but left once again after the demise of Don Emiliano. It was sold to the Dominican order in the 1960s and was converted in 1978 to a private school, Angelicum School. The mansion now houses the
2 comments
Read more