what would Mr. Wood say??

"God Bless America" after "American Gothic": A new sculpture on Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL. 03/22/2009

Are you familiar with a little painting by Grant Wood, called American Gothic? It’s probably one of the most famous 20th century American paintings? Well, someone, or some artist, had the foolish idea to turn it into a massive sculpture. This new incarnation of the painting is an obscene steroid-injected effigy that hulks over awestruck Michigan Ave. tourists. –To make matters worse, the piece is entitled, God Bless America. This sculpture is despicable in that it is less about art, and more of a tourist trap. I could expound about my disdain for this work, but I will spare you the rant. All I can say is that Grant Wood is turning in his grave right now!

What struck me most about this piece was not its lack of imagination, but the homeless man sleeping on it. Swarming with tourists, all standing in front to get their photo taken, it was a zoo. And not one person there seemed to notice, or care, about the man SLEEPING ON THE SCULPTURE. Hell, he may have even been dead? Did anyone stop to ask if he were OK? Did they try to skew their frame to make sure he didn’t ruin the shot? No, no one cared? And so, the irony is staggering here… God Bless America??? Was this lost on the crowd? Or, was this homeless man savvier than we give him credit? Maybe it is he who is making the statement, and not the artist? Maybe he’s pissed that the City (or whoever) paid what I’m sure amounts to half a million dollars for this sculpture? Maybe that money would have been better off going to a homeless shelter, or, mental health clinic? But no, it went to a crappy sculpture, to be just one more plip on a map for tourists to snap away on vacation. Don’t get me wrong, I strongly support and encourage public art, but at what expense? What has this sculpture brought to the world, other than an insult to a great painter and a platform for apathy? I suspect I’ve only contributed to the indifference; I snapped a shot and walked away.

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 24, 2009 at 9:37 AM

    http://chicago-outdoor-sculptures.blogspot.com/2008/12/god-bless-america.html

    http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/jan/23/entertainment/chi-0123-big-chicagojan23

    ReplyDelete
  2. theangrysquirrelMarch 28, 2009 at 9:12 AM

    i was over there to see the buckminster fuller exhibit the other day- there was also a homeless man sleeping under it. i thought it was part of the piece... it certainly makes it more interesting, if a bit obvious!

    ReplyDelete
  3. letterknitApril 4, 2009 at 3:05 AM

    When Ron lived in France, he used to sit on the steps of Versaille enjoying the fact he was ruining huge groups of tourists' pictures. I guess that says something about Ron :)

    ReplyDelete

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