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ISIS by Mark di Suvero (Temporary Exhibit 2004-07)

Wednesday, 24 September 2008

Contemporary steel sculpture

Artist: Mark di Suvero
Location: Laurel Street traffic median at Harbor Drive

Working in partnership with the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, the Port's Public Art Program has arranged for a one-year loan of "Isis," a major contemporary artwork by world-renowned sculptor Mark di Suvero. The artwork is on display on the traffic triangle at Harbor Drive and Laurel Street, one of San Diego's busiest intersections and a major approach to San Diego International Airport.

The sculpture stands 42 feet tall and is 63 feet long. Constructed from industrial steel beams, the sculpture features the bow of a ship that serves as its focal point. It has been suggested that the ship's bow is in memory of di Suvero's father, who was an Italian naval officer stationed in China. The bow is suspended by steel cables, which allow it to gently sway with the wind. "Isis" is both the name of an Egyptian goddess as well as the acronym for the Institute of Scrap Iron and Steel, which commissioned di Suvero to make the sculpture for its 50th anniversary.

Completed in 1978, "Isis" was exhibited at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, a part of the Smithsonian Institution, on the Mall in Washington, DC, until 1992. It was then exhibited at the Manilow Sculpture Park in University Park, Illinois, until its move to San Diego in July 2004. The sculpture will be on exhibit at its new location for approximately one year.

About the Artist:

Mark di Suvero, now an internationally known sculptor, was born Marco Polo di Suvero in Shanghai, China, in 1933 where his father was a naval attaché for the Italian government. He emigrated with his family to the U.S. in 1941 to escape the Japanese invasion. Di Suvero studied at San Francisco City College and the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a B.A. in Philosophy in 1956.

Di Suvero's work is linked to art historical movements such as Cubism, Constructivism, and Minimalism, with their emphasis on geometry and structure, as well as to Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism, with their interest in gesture. As art historian Barbara Rose commented, "Di Suvero is able to synthesize the divergent tributaries of mainstream modernism-including the engineered movement of kinetic art and the spontaneity of Surrealist drawing in the air. His genius lies in his unique ability to fuse the excitement of the momentary-expressed in the potential for imminent change of the swinging, twirling, and precariously poised elements-with the gravity of a timeless geometry and the engineered stability and intuitive equilibrium that his hard-won mastery of structural balance makes possible."

Though he considers California his home, he has maintained a studio in New York since 1960. Di Suvero decided to become a sculptor after seeing and studying sculptures on the campuses of universities he attended in California. His fascination with outdoor sculpture follows a tradition that started with the early Greeks who created artworks that would aesthetically enhance the landscape and architecture around them. He has also been influenced by aboriginal and primitive sculptural forms. While preparing for his first one-man exhibition in New York in 1960, di Suvero suffered a nearly fatal accident that left him confined to a wheel chair for two years. With strong determination he was able to overcome a pessimistic prognosis and regain his ability to walk. During the recuperative process, his work took on a new monumentality. With help from his artist friends and his brother, he began assembling steel I-beams and other materials into 30 ft. (and taller) compositions.

The artist is widely recognized for his monumental works that enhance public spaces in many parts of the world. His pieces develop as he works; he does not build small-scale models. The process is extremely important, with the means of construction--nuts and bolts and welding--left highly visible. He describes his sculpture as "painting in three dimensions with the crane as my paintbrush."

Working in the tradition of noted sculptors David Smith and Alexander Calder, DI Suvero is considered one of the most important sculptors working in the United States today. His works can be seen in museums such as the County Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and New York's Whitney Museum and Museum of Modern Art. Recent exhibitions of DI Suvero's outdoor sculptures have been held at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, California; Storm King Arts Center in New York; and museums in Paris and Venice, Italy.