Steel – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Che Guevara, Korda and Gonzales

Posted by Cindy on January 28, 2015

Jan 282015

Plaza de Revolucion
Havana, Cuba

Che Guevera in Havana, Cuba

Plaza de la Revolución “Revolution Square” is one of the 13 largest outdoor plazas in the world. The square is notable as being where many political rallies take place and Fidel Castro and other political figures address Cubans. Fidel Castro has addressed more than a million Cubans on many occasions, such as 1 May and 26 July each year.

This sculpture of Che Guevara is a single line replica of the famous Alberto Korda photograph of Che. The sculptor on this was Cuban artist Enrique Avila Gonzales. The words “Hasta la Victoria Sempre” (Onward forever to victory) are in Che’s handwriting.

“Of all the faces, the one which required the most work was that of Che. It happened to be a contest in which I participated by invitation, along with 15 other projects. My hesitation was deciding on the material, maybe ceramic, maybe concrete…

“I did many, many drawings and sketches of possible formats, until I saw my son tracing lines on a piece of paper. I was surprised by its tremendous economy and simplicity, and right away the lines came to me and I immediately saw Che’s character in them. All that remained was choosing the material, and at that point of inspiration, it couldn’t have been anything other than steel, like his mettle.

“Another thing was Korda’s photo. It is so artistically impeccable. It is perfectly suitable for any other visual art form. When I was chosen to do the project, I went right away to his house and told him: Look Korda, I’m going to do a sculpture of your photo.

“He started to laugh and we had a toast to its completion. Once it was finished and installed, in 1993, I took him to see it and said: Well, there you have your photo.”

There is almost 15 tons of steel in the piece, donated by the French government.

The Korda photo was takin on March 5, 1960, during a memorial service for victims of the Le Coubre freighter explosion. It was not until 1967 that the photo passed into iconography with Kordas blessing. Korda,originally a Cuban fashion photographer, who died in 2001 never received royalties from the photo and as a supporter of the revolution believed that spreading the image would help spread Guevara’s ideals.

Lee Kelly Fountain

Posted by Cindy on October 20, 2014

Oct 202014

Southwest 6th Avenue and Pine Street
Portland, OR

Oregon artist Lee Kelly, often referred to as “Oregon’s Sculptor” won an international competition to design this sculpture “Untitled.” In this work, water flows over several 20-foot-tall steel structures.

Born in rural McCall in central Idaho, Kelly was raised near Riggins, Idaho. In the 1950s he graduated from what is now Portland State University before joining the United States Air Force. During the late 1950s he attended Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. He presently lives in Oregon City, Oregon.

Fletcher Benton at Symphony Hall

Posted by Cindy on July 2, 2013

Jul 022013

201 Van Ness
Civic Center

Titled, Balanced Unbalanced T, this Steel and Flat Black Enamel piece sits on the exterior second floor of Davies Symphony Hall, it is accessible at all times via a staircase that can be accessed off of Grove Street.

The piece, done in 1981, is by Fletcher Benton, who has been in this website before .

Fletcher Benton (born February 25, 1931 Jackson, Ohio) is from San Francisco, California

He graduated from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1956. From 1964 to 1967 he taught at the San Francisco Art Institute and taught as an associate professor and then professor of art at San Jose State University from 1967-1986.

This piece is actually owned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

L’Octagon by Pol Bury

Posted by Cindy on April 16, 2013

Apr 162013

353 Sansome Street
The Financial District

L’Octagon by Pol Bury – Marble and Steel

L’Octagon is a result of the 1% for Art program in San Francisco. It is available for viewing between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. M-F

This lovely sculpture actually moves. The balls slightly fill with water on the bottom and roll approximately 90 degrees, once the water drains they roll back to their upright position.

Pol Bury was born on April 26, 1922 in Haine-Saint-Pierre, Belgium. In 1939 he met the poets Achille Chavée and Andre Lorent and joined their Groupe de recherches surréalistes (Surrealist research group): Ruptures. He then discovered the work of Tanguy and started to paint, influenced by the work of René Magritte.

In 1947 Bury turned towards abstract painting and entered the Jeune Peinture Belge (Young Belgian Painting) group. In 1949 Bury broke away from the group and committed himself to geometric abstraction.

After seeing the Alexander Calder exhibition at the Maeght Gallery in Paris in 1950, Bury began to move away from painting towards three-dimensional work. He moved to Paris in 1961. He became professor at Paris’s Ecole nationale supérieure des beaux-arts (National School of Fine Arts), where he led a class in monumental sculpture until 1987.

Pol Bury died on September 27, 2005 at the age of 83, in Paris.

The public art requirement created by the downtown plan is commonly known as the “1% for Art” program. This requirement, governed by Section 429 of the Planning Code, provides that construction of a new building or addition of 25,000 square feet or more within the downtown C‐3 district, triggers a requirement that provide public art that equals at least 1% of the total construction cost be provided.

Credit is given to Pol Bury at the cornerstone of the building.

Folded Circle Split

Posted by Cindy on April 12, 2013

Apr 122013

201 Spear Street
SOMA Financial Area

Folded Circle Split by Fletcher Benton – 1984

In walking through the lobby of 201 Spear Street I tripped upon this sculpture. The office building is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm M-F.

Fletcher Benton (born February 25, 1931 Jackson, Ohio) is from San Francisco, California

Fletcher Benton began his career as an abstractionist painter in the 1950s and 1960s. Frustrated with the limitations of paint on canvas, Benton began work on movement with geometric pattern pieces and boxes which he was familiar with from his work in commercial signs. This was at the beginning of the kinetic movement, and Benton worked largely in isolation, unaware of other efforts of kinetic artists. The early works were more concerned with change, rather than movement. The pieces were really more like three-dimensional paintings. Full three-dimensional sculptures designed to be viewed from all angles came later and the movement of the pieces became less prevalent in his later works. In the late 1970s, he abandoned kinetic art, switching to a more traditional bronze and steel.

I tripped upon this piece while looking for two other pieces that are part of the 201 Spear Street POPOS. The pieces, titled Smile and News are so poorly executed that I will leave it to the explorer in you to find them and make your own opinion.

Get your insane Cheesburger here

Posted by Cindy on August 20, 2012

Aug 202012

7th and Mission

SOMA

This hamburger, and many others around town, are by Steel. He is a man in the pursuit of a good time. He enjoys good jokes, good friends and good cheeseburgers. In his spare time he does artwork in San Francisco and anywhere he travels.

Another of his talents is designing hats. Check out his “Murder at Midnight” at Goorin Brothers. Murder at Midnight is part of the 1331 Minna Line of hats by Goorin Brothers.

The 1333 Minna Line is a limited edition artist line founded in San Francisco. The collection began with a few local artist partnering and has now expanded to a universal roster of illustrators, tattooers, graffiti writers, painters, designers and photographers. The principles of community and collaboration are found in every piece.

Around San Francisco with Victor Reyes

Posted by Cindy on August 12, 2012

Aug 122012

Around Town With Victor Reyes

23rd and Mission

This was done by Victor Reyes in 2010. Reyes has several murals around San Francisco.

Reyes has been painting since the early 90s, and has shown extensively around the world in cities and countries such as Bosnia, Germany, Switzerland, Taipei, Japan, and Miami. Reyes is inspired by his peers, including a community of new California artists “The Seventh Letter,” who play an integral role in the development and motivation for his body of work. Reyes, who has no formal art training, moved to San Francisco in 1998 and took a variety of jobs for rent money – he’s a freelance illustrator now.

Reyes did the black and white on this mural that can be found on Washburn off Mission near 9th Street. The colors were done by Steel and Revok.

This is the Mission Street side of the same building.