Alexander Calder

Public art in Washington

/ Greg / Leave a comment

Washington has historical monuments and museums that you could spend weeks exploring. And while I was game to pop by the White House, to visit the Lincoln Memorial and to wander around a few of the Smithsonian museums, I was most excited to take in some of the modern public art that lines the National Mall. Here are some of my favourites….

“Are Years What? (for Marianne Moore)” by Mark di Suervo – I love di Suervo’s art. In this piece, I enjoyed the simplistic contrast in the red of the beams against the green landscaping and white of so many of the buildings along the Mall.

Mark di Suervo "Are Years What? (for Marianne Moore)"

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Parc Jean-Drapeau public art

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One of my earliest travel memories is an afternoon I spent with my dad in Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal in 1981. I was seven years old, and on what was to be my first trip to see my Montreal Expos, a major league baseball strike killed those games (why I still love this sport is beyond me – strikes took away my first games as a child and then my team for good as an adult), leaving us with some extra time to explore the city. We used some of that extra time to tour the park, and the memory of first seeing Alexander Calder’s sculpture “L’Homme” still exists in my mind.

When I was in Montreal for work back in April, I used the little time around the edges of the conference I was attending to visit some old favourites, including wandering around Parc Jean-Drapeau to visit a number of pieces of public art. One of the first pieces on my tour was “L’Arc” by Michel de Broin. Up close, this sculpture looks like it’s made of organic materials and has the appearance of a real tree. Interestingly, it’s made of high performance concrete.  It was a mind-bender when I touched this piece.

L'Arc by Michel de Broin

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Memories of Montreal

/ Greg / 1 Comment

Eleven years was far too long.

I had forgotten how much I love Montreal.  It is a city with which I have a thirty five year history, going back to some of my earliest childhood memories.  At worst, I’d find myself in Montreal every few years until this recent prolonged absence since the summer of 2005.  Since then, I’ve been traveling a lot, but focused on seeing new places. I inadvertently left Montreal behind for more than a decade.

On my long overdue visit, I got a rare opportunity to see Montreal through fresh eyes. Eyes that have seen some of the world’s great cities – Rome, Milan, Zurich, San Fransisco, Stockholm, Paris, Vienna, Prague.  Landing in Montreal a more seasoned traveler it immediately hit me – Montreal is a truly great, world class city.

It is said absence makes the heart grow fonder, and of that, I am certain.  Absence also makes you reminisce.   Over my four days in Montreal, I kept coming back to my memories in the city.  Like in the early eighties, me as a child on my first trips with my Dad, and chasing pigeons in Square Dorchester.  Standing here on a quiet morning thirty plus years later, I could almost hear my youthful laughter and the sound of pigeons taking flight en masse.

Square Dorchester

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Modern art at the Reina Sofia

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My wife and I have been taking a decidedly “less is more” approach to museum visits on our last few trips.  When our plans for Madrid started to come together, it was pretty clear there were two can’t miss museums for us – the Museo del Prado (no photography allowed inside, so I won’t write here about it other than to say it was a remarkable experience to roam through it on a rainy fall day) and the museum of 20th century art, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.

I generally favour more modern art, so the Reina Sofía was actually higher on my list than the Prado.  There were a number of pieces I was very excited to see inside the museum, but on entry, I was surprised (really, it was only a lack of advance reading/research) to find some great modern pieces in an outside courtyard by some of my favourite artists.  First, “Carmen” by Alexander Calder caught my attention and brought me back to a childhood experience of seeing a Calder piece in Montreal as well as seeing some of his other installations in Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, and outside Copenhagen.

"Carmen" by Alexander Calder

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Public art in the Loop

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On an almost unbelievably perfect early April day in Chicago (clear skies, temperature over 20C), I strapped on my super comfy walking shoes for an urban hike to explore public art near and inside “the Loop”.   That’s an area in downtown that’s contained within the elevated train that runs through the heart of Chicago.  In the city’s wisdom, there’s an abundance of public art to give life to an area rife with office buildings and miles upon miles of concrete.

Just east of the loop is Millennium Park, home to some of the most iconic of Chicago’s public art, and the first stop on my self-guided tour.  The first piece I took in was “Crown Fountain”.  It consists of two large skyscraper shaped structures with images of Chicago natives projected on them.   Sadly, the fountains spewing from the mouths of the projected images weren’t operational on my visit, but the art is striking nonetheless:

Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa

Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa

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Public art in Philadelphia

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On this trip to Philadelphia, I decided to skip going to one of the traditional art museums in the city for a bit of a different experience.  The city has something called the “Museum Without Walls” which is a program of the public art around Philly.  There’s an iPhone app with commentary and maps for all of the city’s public art installations.  With some great weather days, I got a healthy dose of fresh air and interesting art while walking off those delicious cheesesteaks.  Here are some of my favourite pieces from the city center area.

Across from the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Lenfest Plaza is “Paint Torch” by Claes Oldenburg.  I really liked Oldenburg’s installations I’ve seen in Denver and Seattle so was excited to see this one before heading into my conference across the street:

Paint Torch

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