Grande Radar - Chicago, IL - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

This abstract bronze sculpture features textured rows that read almost like a book. By Arnoldo Pomodoro, it was constructed in 1963 and installed in 1974. It is just outside he courtyard of the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. The University has the following information on their website:

During his first trip to the United States in 1959, Arnaldo Pomodoro saw Constantin Brancusi’s visionary sculptures for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He subsequently established a lifelong goal to undermine the smooth curves and surfaces found in Brancusi’s work. Pomodoro once said to his friend, poet, and critic Francesco Leonetti:

“The perfection of Brancusi was so beautiful and mysterious…at a certain moment I said to myself, really this perfection of the form in our time is inappropriate; it has to be destroyed. For me, the ‘destruction’ element in form was my most important discovery, and the most authentic both in terms of myself and my times.”

Indeed, one of the most striking elements of Pomodoro’s Grande Radar is the drastic contrast between the even, bronze material of the body and the dense, brown, inscription–like marks in the center of both sides of the sculpture. The intricate nodes, teeth, foils, and threads seemingly carved into the material all contribute to the calculated destruction of Brancusi’s flawless surfaces. The original bronze color in these irregular areas is obscured by a matte dark brown patina to suggest a disconnection within the work. The jagged marks look anything but inviting to audiences compared to the surrounding golden frame, and perfection is certainly not the first thought to come to mind.

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TITLE: Grande Radar ARTIST(S): Arnaldo Pomodoro DATE: 1963 MEDIUM: Bronze CONTROL NUMBER: IAS 87580102 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: University of Chicago, in front of the Smart Museum of Art at 5550 S. Greenwood. DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: None observed

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