“I’m a constructivist… symbolical constructs – like language, like mathematics, like art – are the things that change people’s minds. They are where we grow.”

A sketch of a sculpture created by Mark di Suvero at the Storm King Art Center. (Studio 1482).

Renowned for his larger than life masterpieces, Mark di Suvero has been at the frontier of avant garde creators and artists over the last several decades, most notably during his prime-time between the 1960s-70s, he continued to push the creative boundaries within the artistic community and rise to the forefront of abstract expressionism and constructivism movements, a feat clearly epitomized by his action-sculpting style and spectrum of artwork on display across the globe. The work truly speaks for itself. In fact, one of his sculptures in particular can be found right here on the Western Washington University campus in the great outdoors!

As detailed by the Western Washington University Public Art Collection guide, the sculptor was equipped with architectural elements and musical knowledge, in addition to being quite passionate about the famed composer Handel, the forces at work merged together in order to create a striking masterpiece, known as “For Handel.” By combining multi-faceted inspirations, di Suvero has been regarded as a leading innovator, and furthermore accredited for an incredible collision of artistry with a meaningful tribute to a renowned musician. The location was selected with purpose, constructed adjacent to the Performing Arts Center building right above the rehearsal rooms below ground level.

On the matter of original artistic intent, his creations have most notably provided opportunities for interaction. Some early works incorporated benches or swings, which invited their audiences to experience the work physically in addition to the visual imagery. A seating area integrated into the sculpture offered an ideal perspective from which to view the sculptures: from within. Di Suvero strove to make his art as accessible as possible, including people who do not regularly patronize museums or galleries. The artist himself has described his sculpture as ”painting in three dimensions with the crane as my paintbrush.” His beams are suspended at a lofty height in a way that suggests transience – as if a crane operator had suddenly paused his assignment for a break.

The man of the hour…

di Suvero hard at work. (Chute).

Mark di Suvero was born in Shanghai in 1933 and years later came of age in San Francisco, where his family had relocated after the start of World War II. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at University of California, Berkeley and immediately moved to New York City after graduation. Focused on working with mediums such as wooden beams, planks, rope, chains, and metal, he built dynamic sculptures that matched the paintings of the Abstract Expressionists in exuberance and size; his early creations were assembled from the debris he found while walking around the city.

Anyone from an art enthusiast to critic can recognize that his repertoire exemplifies the time period and cultural climate, being deeply rooted in the tradition of Abstract Expressionism and characterized by the marriage of grand scale, industrial materials and motion. In the aftermath of a tragic accident amidst his early artistic endeavors, di Suvero realized that he needed to seek alternative methods to make art that were not dependent upon his physical strength alone. As a result, he learned how to weld, operate a crane, and to use other machinery. By the late 1960s, he was making his sculptures exclusively from metal—steel I beams, for the most part—which allowed him to create artwork at the scale of architecture, and of the modern city. Throughout his career, di Suvero founded several critical exhibition spaces intended to showcase work by emerging artists, including Park Place Gallery, ConStruct and Socrates Sculpture Park. Di Suvero resides and continues to work in New York.

“I think the role of the artist remains in some way very necessary to a really living society and hopefully it is the unifying thing in terms of international culture.” – Mark di Suvero

He made a name for himself in the 60s, and as “a philosophy major from California who was born in China to parents of Italian heritage, di Suvero has reinvented himself many times.” Di Suvero, is a lifelong activist whose disapproval of the Vietnam War developed into a constructivist approach to the link between humanity and art. In his own words, he believed, “There’s a question of what used to be called ‘social consciousness’, which is the kind of responsibility you feel toward other human beings. I think that there’s a huge amount of current art that deals with the art market, which has absolutely no relation to social consciousness. I think that we are all related, all interconnected, if not by language certainly by some of our beliefs, whether religion or dreams or art or poetry and emotions, it’s part of our responsibility.” His aforementioned philosophy and dedication has been the impetus for his involvement in large public projects.

> Periods of Influence < Drawn from past artistic modes and historical eras, the artwork di Suvero produced reflects a multi-faceted look at the state of the world as he experienced its dynamics.

Political controversy, social activism, & international events: As an outspoken protestor of the Vietnam War, driven into self-imposed exile, di Suvero absconded the United States and resided elsewhere for a number of years before returning. Most of his projects are doubly art—physical art that alludes to poetry or music or literature. In response to an inquiry on the matter of whether or not the artist in question consciously places politics aside in his work, he stated, “I don’t think that there are any politics in my work. Maybe sexual politics. No, I felt so strongly about that colonial Vietnam War because I had seen the kind of poverty and misery in which Asians had to live in comparison to the wealth and ease in which Americans lived…”

• Prominent artistic periods, schools of thought, and movements:

• Abstract Expressionism – A stylistic development among painters of the late 1940s and ’50s, all of whom were committed to an expressive art of profound emotion and universal themes. It blended elements of Surrealism and abstract art in an effort to create a new style fitted to the postwar mood of anxiety and trauma.
• Constructivism – emerged with the Revolution of 1917 taking place in Russia and sought a new approach to making objects, one which abolished the traditional concern with composition and replaced it with ‘construction,’ which called for a new attention to the technical character of materials and became an important influence on geometric abstraction.
• Objets trouvés school – described by di Suvero himself as a re-valorization of ignored objects, often thought of as junk.
• Cubism: artists characteristically abandoned perspective, delved into the exploration of open form, piercing figure and objects by letting the space flow through, blending background into foreground, and showing objects from various angles. The methodology paved the way for non-representational art by putting new emphasis on the unity between a depicted scene and the surface of the canvas. A paradigm changing artistic revolution rooted within a number of early twentieth century styles & shook the foundations of traditional art making.
• Earthworks/land art: an art movement in which landscape and the work are inextricably linked.
• Instillation Art: an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that often are site specific and designed to transform the perception of a space.
• On symbolic meaning and psychoanalytic associations: “If anything, I identify myself closer to being a Jungian [a follower of the school of thought developed by Carl Jung – emphasizes the importance of the individual psyche and the personal quest for wholeness.] I think that there are archetypal forms that people react to… people respond to geometric forms in a way that doesn’t have to do with a direct sexual interpretation. When I see a pyramid, I am moved by the complete form, like the Egyptian pyramid of Cheops. It is a very clear symbol of hierarchy. Geometric art, which we now call Cubism, liberated us from a kind of enslavement to figurative art.” (Castro).

Final thoughts…

What generations of art critics, consumers, passive and involved participants alike have come to understand amidst the process of artistic examination is that art is subjective. There isn’t a definitive answer, neither wrong or right. Granted, educated conclusions may be drawn from a culmination of sources and research and as a result, can provide useful context or background information, however, the element of mystery still remains in its totality. The human condition is a fickle thing, seeking out the unknown, and all the while, questioning the nature of what constitutes known reality itself. In terms of the architectural wonder crafted by di Suvero, each and every viewer is encouraged to discover a newfound sense of the sculpture through the lens of one’s own collective individual experiences and perspective. Additionally, the art community at Western Washington University urges all visitors to move forward with the insight evoked from the viewing experience with any art installation, both on and off campus. By the power invested in the viewer, mindfulness can in turn become a powerful catalyst enacted to further propel curiosity about the realm of artwork and reflections on humanity.

Here’s an excerpt from an article written in 1985; note that while even read in the context of the current day in age, his critique continues to uphold relevance, and hopefully, the spectators allowing themselves to interact with the sculpture can discern new meaning from the work. Keep in mind while watching the video, the time lapse footage highlighting the sculpture was filmed with the intent to create a lasting impression of the piece to ideally resonate with the viewer, challenges the notions and focal points through which art can be pondered, and ultimately aims to take its audience on a journey to new heights.

“The effectiveness of the constant, restless movement depends, in part, upon di Suvero’s mastery of drawing. As bulky as the works are, they invariably seem in the midst of adjustment, still near the beginning of a process, but that has no end.” (Brenson).

Now, without further ado…

Bibliography:

Studio 1482. “Beethoven’s Quartet.” Onedrawingaday.com. N.p., 13 May 2011. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

THE ART STORY FOUNDATION. “Mark Di Suvero Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.”The Art Story: Modern Art Insight. N.p., 2009. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.

“Mark Di Suvero : Rice Public Art.” Rice Public Art. Rice University, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.

Lippincott, Jonathan. “Sculpture in the Landscape.” The Paris Review. Strick&Williams, Tierra Innovation, 16 May 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

Chute, James. “Mark Di Suvero Is a Man of Steel.” Sandiegouniontribune.com. The San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Jan. 2011. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

Myers, Marc. “America’s Great Man of Steel.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 25 Aug. 2011. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.

Degman, Maggie. “Keeping up on the Arts: The Rumored History of “For Handel”.” The Western Front. Western Washington University, Apr. 2013. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

Brenson, Michael. “GALLERY VIEW: A SCULPTURE PARK FOR DI SUVERO’S LADDERS TO THE SKY.” The New York Times. N.p., 24 Aug. 1985. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

Castro, Jan Garden. “To Make Meanings Real: A Conversation with Mark Di Suvero.” International Sculpture Center. Sculpture Magazine, June 2005. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

“The History of Sculpture.” Scholastic ART | Scholastic.com. The New Book of Knowledge®, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.