The Embarcadero – Sea Change

 Posted by on January 24, 2000
Jan 242000
 
The Embarcadero
Sea Change by Mark di Suvero
At Pier 40 on the lawn near the baseball park is this giant sculpture, that you can see from blocks away. Constructed in 1995 it is 70 feet tall and weights 10 tons.  The circular top moves with the wind.
Marco Polo “Mark” di Suvero is an American abstract expressionist sculptor born Marco Polo Levi in Shanghai, China in 1933 to Italian expatriates. He immigrated to San Francisco in 1942 with his family. From 1953 to 1957, he attended UC Berkeley to study Philosophy. While working in construction, he was critically injured in a freight elevator accident and focused all his attention on sculpture.
While in rehabilitation, he learned to work with an arc welder. His early works were large outdoor pieces that incorporated railroad ties, tires, scrap metal and structural steel. This exploration has transformed over time into a focus on I-beams and heavy gauge metal. Many of the pieces contain sections that are allowed to swing and rotate giving the overall forms a considerable degree of motion.

  7 Responses to “The Embarcadero – Sea Change”

  1. I don’t usually relate arc welders with rehab:)…but I am happy that this artist did! Love that pop of red color too…

  2. I can’t decide if I like this one or not – maybe if I saw it moving!

  3. The architecture is reminiscent of the Olympic Torch. It is very striking in red and really catches the eye.

  4. lovely captures!

  5. I hope you’ll forgive me for seeing baseball bats leaning against each other.

  6. […] pad in front of the Legion of Honor, one of our finer museums in San Francisco.  It is by Mark di Suvero, who has been in this blog before.  It was controversial the day it was installed.  Many felt is […]

  7. […] through trial and error, and by studying artists he admired – notably renowned sculptors Mark di Suvero and Richard […]

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