In March of 2018 an Anish Kapoor "bean" statue named Cloud Column is being installed in the Museum District of Houston. That did not sit well with folks in Chicago, home of Kapoor's world-famous Cloud Gate 'bean.'
It all started with this story from the Chicago Tribune:
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“Unoriginal 4th place Houston gets its own bean sculpture... whatever.
By Kim Janssen, Chicago Tribune
March 27, 2018
It’s no secret that Houston is coming for Chicago’s status as the nation’s third-largest city.
But couldn’t it be a little bit more original about how it does it?
The Texas city’s latest attraction is a sculpture it bought titled Cloud Column, made by British sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor, who also created Chicago’s Cloud Gate.
It’s, er, in the shape of a bean, just like the Millennium Park icon. And it’s shiny and made of stainless steel.
Wherever did they get that idea?
Installed Monday outside the Glassell School of Art, Houston’s version of The Bean differs in one respect from Chicago’s: the uptight Texas bean is designed to stand upright, not lie on its side like the chill Illinois bean.
If being surrounded by a cultureless abyss insufficiently communicates to confused tourists that they are in Houston, the bean’s verticality will therefore act as an additional reminder of their poor life choices.
Speaking of life choices, an increasing number of people are making Houston their home: The metro area gained 94,417 residents in 2017, while the Chicago metro area lost 13,286 residents. If that trend continues, Houston could eclipse Chicago as the nation’s third-largest city in the next 10 years.
Kapoor this week told Inc. through a spokesman that “Cloud Column dates from 2000 and is a unique work which is completely different from Cloud Gate.” He did not say whether there are other “cloud” sculptures, leaving open the possibility that even lesser cities will soon have their own, incorrectly oriented beans.”
Oh, like Houston was going to let THAT go by without comment: (
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“Dear Chicago: Houston’s bean is better. And so is Houston.
An email-fight between Chicago Tribune Columnist Kim Janssen and the Houston Chronicle’s Lisa Gray
By Lisa Gray, Kim Janssen, and Brian Rausch
March 28, 2018
From: Lisa Gray, Houston Chronicle
To: Kim Janssen, Chicago Tribune
Dear Kim:
Just to recap: Yesterday in the Chicago Tribune, you wrote a column with the headline
"Unoriginal Houston gets its own bean sculpture.... whatever." You grumbled that the sculpture we've just installed – Anish Kapoor's "Cloud Column" – is basically a rip-off of Chicago's "Cloud Gate," better known as "The Bean."
You wrote:
Installed Monday outside the Glassell School of Art, Houston's version of The Bean differs in one respect from Chicago's: the uptight Texas bean is designed to stand upright, not lie on its side like the chill Illinois bean.
If being surrounded by a cultureless abyss insufficiently communicates to confused tourists that they are in Houston, the bean's verticality will therefore act as an additional reminder of their poor life choices.All of which made me snort.
Yeah, it's true that we have a giant new shiny bean that stands upright. But Kim, did it occur to you that maybe we wanted it just because it's a cool thing? It's a piece of art, and works by the same artist often look similar. Our Calder looks kinda like other places' Calders.
It made me wonder: Is Chicago feeling defensive? How bad is it there, knowing that Houston is set to pass you in population, taking your spot as third-largest city in the U.S.? Are you feeling -- well, to steal someone's joke from Twitter – like a "has-bean"?
Condolences,
Lisa
From: Kim Janssen, Chicago Tribune
To: Lisa Gray, Houston Chronicle
It's a leftover bean, a second-rate bean that's been lying around in storage for the better part of 20 years, because nobody else wanted it. Nobody except Houston wants a leftover, second-rate bean.
Are we feeling defensive? The president never has anything nice, or accurate, to say about us. Our state is broke, and people are leaving. Our landlord wants us out of the Tribune Tower by May. Yeah, we're defensive.
Chicago has spent the better part of its existence resenting New York and then Los Angeles. That is the natural order of things. The idea that a giant Texas suburb masquerading as a city may soon supplant us is galling.
But your bean... your bean is wack.
I suppose the next part is where you list all of Houston's cultural amenities and recent sports victories in an attempt to change my mind. But you won't. Your bean is inferior.
From: Lisa Gray, Team Houston
To: Kim Janssen, Team Chicago
Well, I could just talk about the weather here: Low today of 65 degrees, high of 78.
But let's talk beans. Our art critic, Molly Glentzer, tells me that our bean is actually the better bean, the original bean, the one made by hand, the one that reaches for the sky. Appropriate for its spot in the Museum of Fine Arts Houston's fast-growing complex — which is, as far as I can tell, the fastest-growing big art museum in the country.
Growing fast: That's what we do. Yeah, we have a lot of houses with yards here — but we're adding highrises fast too. We're growing more urban, growing upward, reaching for the sky — like our bean.
Sorry to hear about Trib Tower. And sorry we clobbered the Bulls yesterday.
But hey, we've got room here. Ever check our real estate prices? Come on down. Sounds like you could use a change of scenery.
From: Kim Jannsen, deep dish
To: Lisa Gray, corn or flour?
If art were measured by the yard — and I can see the appeal, to a Texan — you might have a point.
One of the great things about the Chicago bean is that you can walk through it. Standing underneath the bean, children can see themselves reflected in a virtual hall of mirrors against Millennium Park and the beautiful Chicago skyline. It is a place of wonderment and laughter.
Even if a child could achieve the same effect with your bean, what would they see in the reflection? Houston. That's what they'd see.
As for sports, nobody denies you are entitled to your consolations. LeBron James plays basketball in Cleveland, and Green Bay regularly clobbers the Bears, but no serious adult would describe either place as a better place to live than Chicago.
When it comes to the weather, there are downsides to living in a swamp, I imagine. One of your colleagues sent me a news clip that described how our cold weather kills all our rats, so you can see that it serves a purpose.
If I wanted to live in a suburb, I'd move to Oak Park.
From: Lisa Gray, Bayou City
To: Kim Jannsen, Windy City
While I was out for lunch, I asked Brian Rausch, who came to the Houston Chronicle from the Chicago Tribune, to weigh in. He wrote:
If you'd spent time in Houston, you'd realize your comparison to the suburbs is misguided. No, we don't have pretentious suburbs like Oak Park and Evanston, filled with people who fled the crime and frozen, dead rats of Chicago. We have leafy neighborhoods -- Montrose, the Heights, River Oaks, Memorial Park, the Museum District – that fill our 38-mile inner loop with bungalows, Southern-style mansions with wrap-around porches, and shiny new condos.
Like you, I had misperceptions about Houston before I threw away my shovels and winter boots to move here two years ago. Now, fresh with a suntan from a beautiful March day playing in the waves and sand, I have a new perspective. I chose Houston and don't ever want to return to live in Chicago. It's a fine city three or four months of the year, and I might even return someday to visit. But every morning as I make my 6-mile commute that takes just 10 minutes, I'm thankful I live here. It's time to bring this to a close. So let me come back to that image from your last note, Kim – the child looking at the Houston bean, and seeing Houston reflected back.
Here's the thing about that view. It wouldn't always have been great, but it's better now than it used to be. And it keeps getting better all the time.
It's a pleasure, living in a city like that.
And it means that the H-bean, unlike the Chi-bean, will keep getting better.
Any final thoughts? It's been a pleasure fighting with you.
From: Kim Janssen, City of the Broad Shoulders
To: Lisa Gray, Houston Strong
You know, it's a nice image you paint, especially once you airbrushed out all the McMansions. And I respect your acknowledgement that Houston has significant room to improve. I don't suppose that there are any fewer smart, kind, creative people in Houston than any place else. So everyone who wants to live in Houston deserves to do so. I really mean that.
I got into this hoping to score a luxury trip to Houston with all expenses paid out of the pocket of some local booster. It doesn't look like that's going to happen. But I am grateful for all the new enemies I made on Twitter, and all of the mean emails I got — even your temperate, good-natured ones. A handful of Houstonians even got that I was poking fun at our own desperate need for prominence.
As a certified hater, I thought I'd never find as chippy a city as Chicago. But the outpouring of bile from Houston has genuinely surprised me, and given me hope that you may one day amount to something worthy of our rivalry.
In the meantime, enjoy your bean, which is not as good as our bean, and never will be.”
While Janssen thought she got the last word, she was wrong: The Dallas Morning News got the last word: (
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“Sorry Chicago: Making Fun of Houston’s ‘Bean’ Sculpture Is Our Job
By Charles Scudder, Dallas Morning News
March 29, 2018
Move over, Chicago. Let the Big D handle this Houston hoopla.
Workers in Texas' worst city installed a sculpture this week that looks an awful lot like Chicago's iconic "bean."
British artist Anish Kapoor designed the two works. Chicago's Cloud Gate is a big reflective shape that sits on its side. Houston's Cloud Column is a big reflective shape that sits on its end. Both are great for selfies.
But folks in the Windy City idn't take too kindly to the new sculpture. Houston will soon overtake Chicago as the nation's third-largest city, and Chicagoans considered the sculpture a move onto their turf. Tweets and newspaper columns sparked a war of words between the two cities.
"If being surrounded by a cultureless abyss insufficiently communicates to confused tourists that they are in Houston, the bean's verticality will therefore act as an additional reminder of their poor life choices," writes the Chicago Tribune.
Listen, we are all about calling out Houston as an inferior city.
For Dallasites, throwing shade on Houston is a solemn responsibility. Their muggy weather, awful traffic and unsightly sprawl are just part of why we hate Houston.
Chicago, don't you dare take this from us. We can take care of keeping Houston in its place just fine on our own, thankyouverymuch.
Houston: Your air smells. The Astrodome is overrated. Trying to drive in your city is a nightmare. The Rockets are lame.
Chicago: Hot dogs are for children. Good luck with those snowstorms. That cheesy casserole is not a pizza. How 'bout them Cowboys.
Speaking of America's Team, Sky Mirror at AT&T Stadium is clearly the best Kapoor sculpture around. Instaled in 2013, it is nothing like Houston or Chicago's weird bean-shaped sculptures.
People are leaving Chicgo in droves for our fine city. Houston is literally The Worst. The two cities can bicker all they want, but we know life (and reflective artwork) is better in Big D.”