Public Art Field Trip: Firebird

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Firebird, 2005 by Rodney Carroll

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Illustration by Precious Blake

Firebird is a 50-foot-tall metal sculpture by Baltimore artist Rodney Carroll that is installed on a plaza at the southeast corner of Howard Street and Park Avenue, opposite the entrance to the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

It was inspired, Carroll says, by The Firebird, a 1910 ballet by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky that is based on a Russian folk tale featuring a handsome prince, a lovely princess, and the magical intervention of the firebird.

The $275,000 sculpture was commissioned by David S. Brown Enterprises, one of the developers of the Symphony Center office and apartment complex next to the hall, and the Maryland Mass Transit Administration, which operates the light-rail line that runs through the area.

Carroll, a  graduate of the Rinehart School of Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art, was chosen in a 2000 competition. He said he was striving to create a work that will be a gateway to the cultural district and a symbol for the symphony, whose home turns 32 later this year.

“I wanted to play off the architecture of the symphony hall, the curvilinear aspect,” he said. “I wanted to reach out from that and imply music spilling out of the symphony hall to the populace.”

One of Stravinsky’s best known compositions, The Firebird, was first performed by the Ballets Russes at the Paris Opera. It is characterized by outbursts of great force and propulsion, followed by lighter, more shimmering passages.

Carroll used stainless steel, bronze and copper to create a composition that echoes Stravinsky’s music, with powerful, buttresslike elements and more delicate pieces. Elements of the artistic composition also suggest parts of musical instruments, such as the pipes of an organ or the strings of a harp.

Noting that Stravinsky collaborated at one point with Russian painter Wassily Kadinsky, Carroll said he considers the Baltimore sculpture another sort of collaboration, this time in three dimensions.

“Since the sculpture stands alone in a large plaza, I felt the need for the work to be architectural in scale and elements,” he said. “The main element is structured with twisting buttresses, and pedestrians may walk into and through the sculpture. … It’s different from each side, and it’s meant to be that way.”

To see more of Carroll’s work, visit his website at www.rodneycarroll.com

Want to know more about Baltimore Public Art? Pick up the book Outdoor Sculpture in Baltimore: A Historical Guide to Public Art in the Monumental City by Cindy Kelly.

Parts of this post referenced  The Baltimore Sun’s 2004 article “Giving form to ‘Firebird'” by Edward Gunts. The original piece can be viewed here.

Public Art Field Trip: Under Sky/One Family

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Under Sky/One Family, Mark di Suvero, 1980

public art illustrations001Illustration by Precious Blake

In 1977, when he recieved a commission to create a large, site-specific sculpture for Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Mark di Suvero was considered one of the nation’s leading sculptors. Baltimore had applied for and was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts based solely on the location at the harbor’s edge between the World Trade Center and the National Aquarium. Di Suvero was chosen soon thereafter, and the NEA grant was confirmed. The sculpture was dedicated in May 1980 by Mrs. Joan Mondale, the wife of Vice President Walter Mondale and a passionate supporter of the arts, with Mark di Suvero’s participation.

All the early designs for di Suvero’s Baltimore piece, as well as the model of the piece, involved movement. The sixteen early designs on deposit at the Baltimore Museum of Art do not document how Under Sky/One Family developed into a stationary piece.

The title of the piece was taken from a Chinese saying di Suvero remembered from his childhood, but it also makes reference to Martin Luther King’s belief in “one people, living together, working together, playing together,” ideas he hoped his sculpture might also evoke.

Other references in the work are to Baltimore’s history as a maritime and steel center. The vertical steel elements and his dramatic arangement of them conjure up the mast of the ship, and his inclusion of an actual propeller from a large ship, meant for children’s play here, underscores Baltimore’s seafaring history. In 1980 the sculpture was beautifully sited on an open, grassy knoll that was clearly visible from Pratt Street.

In 1975, di Suvero had been the first living artist to have his work shown in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris. That same year he was given an exhibition at The Whitney Museum, in New York City, and his monumentally scaled sculptures were sited across the New York metropolitan area.

Today he has studios in Long Island City, in Petaluma, California, and in Chalon-sure- Saaone, France. His distinctive scultures can be found in museums and outdoor seettings across the country and around the world. His work can be found here.

Want to know more about Baltimore Public Art? Pick up the book Outdoor Sculpture in Baltimore: A Historical Guide to Public Art in the Monumental City by Cindy Kelly.

 

Baltimore Gallery Roundup: January/February 2014

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Openings and activities in and around Baltimore- January 2014.

Current Gallery opening this Friday: Nip Slips Artists: Connor Creagan, Margaret Daviet , Alan Resnick, Allie Linn, Flannery Silva & Kim Westfall, curated by Evan Roche and Colin Alexander Opening Reception Jan 25, 2014, 7-10 pmOpen weekends from Jan 25-Feb 23, 2014 and Sublime Cultivation by Christopher Rodriguez (curated by Carl Gunhouse. Opening Sat. Jan. 25th, 7-10PM Gallery Hours, 12-4PM) Sat. & Sun.

Guest Spot MICHAEL SCOGGINS  *ART STAR Project Room: RYAN SYRELL; January 10, 2014 – February 15, 2014 , open Saturdays 1pm-4pm, Wednesdays 5pm-7pm, or by appointment unless otherwise noted.

Gallery CA  Join The Feminist Art Project – Baltimore for our first event, Speak Up at Gallery CA! Speak Up is an evening of spoken word and funny, heartfelt ruminations featuring “The Slam Up Tour”. Doors Open at 6:00 pm, Open Mic at 6:15 and Slam Up goes on at 7:30 pm. This event is FREE! Speak Up will also include work by Baltimore artists; including a performance piece by Katie Duffy and video pieces by Tiffany Black, Allana Clarke and Danisha Harris.

Open Space will be putting the fifth Prints and Multiples Fair at D center, the weekend of March 8-9. Now accepting applications!

D:Center Baltimore Design Convo 58: Wired Up, The Windup Space. Tue, February 4, 6pm – 8pm

C Grimaldis Gallery Rene Trevino: Axial Precessions Jan 29 to March 1, 2014 Opening Reception: Thursday, January 30th 2014, 6pm-8pm

Jordan Faye Contemporary The Other Way Was Another Way Magnolia Laurie and Mary Beth Muscara February 1 – March 22, 2014

Goya Contemporary Madeleine Keesing: Particles January 13 – March 15, 2014  Curated by Amy Raehse

Maryland Art Place Light Touch, Exhibition Dates: February 12 – June 22, 2014. Public Reception: March 5, 11-3pm, International Pier of The Baltimore Washington Airport. Light Touch includes artwork by five artists who use photography to explore aspects of the physical world. The presenting artists are: Chrystal Lebas (UK), Heidi Morstang (UK), Marja Pirila (Finland), Lynn Silverman (Baltimore), and Frank Hallum Day (Washington, DC) and is produced in partnership with UK curator, Liz Wells, The Society of Photographic Education Conference 2014 (Baltimore City,) and Baltimore Washington International (BWI) Airport.

Pinebox Art Center FEB. 17-19…CoHosts: Nick Cave & Pinebox Art Center. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of The Contemporary and their new collaborative speaker series “CoHost,” Pinebox will be co-hosting a 3-day residency and lecture of Chicago based artist Nick Cave!!

Lease Agreement Feb 2014 Linda Yun

Creative Alliance  Works by Artist -in-Residence Francisco Loza will have artwork displayed in the Marquee Lounge. Selected works on view January 22 – February 22.  Amalie Rothschild Gallery January 24 – February 8, 2014 Reception:  Friday, January 24, 5:30 – 7:30 pm In collaboration with Johns Hopkins, the Creative Alliance hosts a Black History Month Competition featuring works by East Baltimore public school students.  Students from kindergarten through twelfth grades create mixed-media works to depict the history of African Americans specific to Baltimore City. Fight or Flight February 8 – March 22, 2014 Reception:  Saturday, February 8, 5:30 – 7:30pm Fight or Flight showcases all new artwork by Alessandra Torres and Katie Pumphrey, created over the course of their respective three-year residencies at the Creative Alliance. The exhibition explores themes of confrontation, reflex, competition, territory, instinct, interaction, and personal space.

School 33 BiPolar, curated by Andrea Pollan in GALLERY ONE  Jan 17, 2014 – Mar 08, 2014  Opening Reception: January 17, 2013 6pm to 9pm Participating artists: Lauren Frances Adams Katie Duffy Mary Frank Hedieh Ilchi Dan Perkins. Animal Sightings, by Rebecca Katz in Members’ Gallery January 17 to March 8 Opening Reception: January 17, 2013 6pm to 9pm. In the Round, by Morgan Frailey and Kristin McWharter in Project Space January 17 to March 8 Opening Reception: January 17, 2013 6pm to 9pm.

Baltimore Museum of Art Front Room: An-My Lê October 9, 2013 – February 23, 2014, Black Box: Gerard Byrne October 23, 2013 – February 16, 2014 Morris Louis Unveiled September 8, 2013 – February 9, 2014 Baker Artist Awards 2014 February 26 – April 6, 2014The BMA presents artworks by sculptor Jonathan Latiano and photographer Lynne Parks and a video presentation of cellistDariusz Sckoraczewski, winners of last year’s $25,000 Mary Sawyers Baker Prize.

Contemporary Museum The Contemporary continues its’ CoHosts series- upcoming lectures, all at the Baltimore School for the Arts Feb 18: CoHosts // Nick Cave & Pinebox Art Center Mar 05: CoHosts // Brendan Fowler & Nudashank Mar 27: CoHosts // Wayne White & Gallery CA

Bodega Gallery (A100 Copycat) WALKER SEYDELL ICE CHAMPAGNE AS ART ART AS CHAMPAGNE Opening Saturday, Jan 25, 8-10pm 1501 Guilford Ave. A100 Baltimore MD 21202

Goucher College Galleries Joseph Hyde Certain Trees Sat, Jan 11, to Sund, March 2, 2014, an artist’s reception will be held Thursday, February 6, 6 to 9 p.m. in the Rosenberg Art Gallery

Towson University Galleries American Photography X2, opening reception Thursday, Feb 6, 2014 7:30opm to 9pm. Featuring Eadweard Muybridge, Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, Bernice Abbott, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, Margaret Bourke-White, Paul Strand, Gabriela Bulisova, Don Camp, Susan Fenton, Robert Gerhardt, Alexander Heilner, Connie Imboden, Nina Katchadourian, Nate Larson, Ben Marcin, Jeffrey Stockbridge, Blaise Tobia, Phillip Toledano and Ion Zupcu. This opening coincides with Claire Girodie’s Argument from Silence and MFA thesis exhibitions from David Armacost and Zeke Luman.

MICA Exhibitions Look Now, Pinkard Gallery; this exhibition will feature work by Thomas Baird; Regina DeLuise, Photography Department chair; Jay Gould; Alexander Heilner, associate dean for design and media; Nate Larson, chair of the 2014 SPE National Conference; John McNeil, photography manager; Lynn Silverman; Laurie Snyder; Colette Veasey-Cullors ’96 (photography); and Jack Wilgus, faculty emeritus. Picture Windows and The Amazing Johnny Eck, Meyerhoff and Decker Galleries, until March 16.

UMBC Galleries Visibility Machines: Harun Farocki and Trevor Paglen, October 24, 3013 – February 22, 2014

Stevenson University Gallery Balto Retro Show 2014 Jan. 13-April 11 Reception: Wednesday, Jan. 22, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Presentation: Wednesday, Jan. 22, 7:30 p.m. School of Design Gallery. A collection of Baltimore-area creative professionals display award-winning design and illustration work created during the 1980s and before. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with The Society for History and Graphics. Guest curated by Jerry Litofsky.

Loyola University Gallery CIPHER: New works by Stephanie Benassi Jan. 17-Feb. 16, 2014, Artist talk and reception: Thursday, Jan. 23, 5-7 p.m.

Metro Gallery Surface Stress. Structure Strain. The Psychology of Architecture in Baltimore, MD and Nagasaki, Japan. New works by Greg McLemore  January 16th – February 22nd

Top of the World Greg Minah, Exhibition;  Wed, Jan 8  –  Sun, March 2

Area 405 is in the middle of their Cinema Series- check out their website for current schedule.

 

Openings this Friday at School 33

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BIPOLAR, CURATED BY ANDREA POLLAN

 

January 17 to March 8

Opening Reception: January 17, 2013
6pm to 9pm

 

The authentic experience in art production for serious contemporary artists requires an acute awareness of both the external apparatus of the art world – including the rigors of academia and the fickleness of the market – and a finely honed consciousness of the internal voice that motivates the making of art. One might argue that the latter point is far more important. Nonetheless in discussing these two extreme poles on a spectrum with many artists, I find that there is a psychological terrain akin to bipolarity that many endure in the studio. Mood swings, isolation, mania, doubt, exhilaration, depression, and inspiration are but a few conditions that characterize and color the artistic (and curatorial) process.

The exhibition includes painting (Hedieh Ilchi, Dan Perkins), sculpture (Mary Frank), installation (Lauren Frances Adams), video and performance (Katie Duffy). As artists embrace more means of visual communication within their distinct œuvres, mixing up and challenging approaches to their media, we are treated to a more complex, sometimes dizzying array of aesthetic and social issues that can lead us, the viewer, to parse our own difficult yet pleasurable spectrum of response and understanding.

Participating artists:
Lauren Frances Adams
Katie Duffy
Mary Frank
Hedieh Ilchi
Dan Perkins

Image: Dan Perkins, X Marks the Spot, 2013, oil on canvas, courtesy of the artist.

 

 

ANIMAL SIGHTINGS, BY REBECCA KATZ

 

January 17 to March 8

Opening Reception: January 17, 2013
6pm to 9pm

 

School 33 Art Center is pleased to present Animal Sightings, a series of screen prints by Lotta Art 2013 Best-in-Show winner Rebecca Katz.

This series explores the barriers and boundaries between animals and humans. Through encounters with wild animals in their natural ecosystems and interactions with our pets at home, we have an opportunity to consider animals’ complex and varied forms of communication and sensory experiences. What is their experience? How is their understanding of the world the same or different than ours? These multi-process screen prints explore the complicated relationships, connections and friendships between animals and humans.

Image courtesy of artist.

 

IN THE ROUND, BY MORGAN FRAILEY AND KRISTIN MCWHARTER

 

January 17 to March 8

Opening Reception: January 17, 2013

6pm to 9pm

 

In the Round is a collaborative project by Baltimore based artists Morgan Frailey and Kristin McWharter. On view are a series of fiber-based sculptures and performative objects that are constructed via traditional knitting and weaving techniques and that speak to a larger idea of social circles and interactions. The work addresses both the physical challenges of creating space as well as the challenges of breaking social barriers.

Image is courtesy of the artists.