''Flamingo'', created by noted
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
artist
Alexander Calder, is a tall stabile located in the Federal Plaza in front of the
Kluczynski Federal Building
The Kluczynski Federal Building is a skyscraper in the downtown Chicago Loop located at 230 South Dearborn Street. The 45-story structure was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and completed in 1974 as the last portion of the new Federal Center ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, United States. It was commissioned by the United States
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
and was unveiled in 1974, although Calder's signature on the sculpture indicates it was constructed in 1973.
Attributes
''Flamingo'' weighs 50 tons, is composed of
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
, and is
vermilion
Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since ancient history, antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its correspondi ...
in color. Calder gave the stabile its color, which has come to be called "Calder red",
to offset it from the black and steel surroundings of nearby office buildings, including the
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...
-designed Kluczynski Federal Building.
The stabile is an art form which Calder pioneered. It is an abstract structure that is completely stationary, as opposed to a
mobile, which can move with
air current
In meteorology, air currents are concentrated areas of winds. They are mainly due to differences in atmospheric pressure or temperature. They are divided into horizontal and vertical currents; both are present at mesoscale while horizontal ones d ...
s. In 2012, the sculpture received a fresh paint job in its characteristic color.
Commissioning and unveiling
Calder was commissioned to design the sculpture because of his well-established international
reputation; the space, surrounded by rectangular
modern
Modern may refer to:
History
* Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Phil ...
buildings, necessitated the kind of
arch
An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it.
Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...
ing forms and dynamic surfaces that a large-scale Calder stabile could provide. ''Flamingo'' was the first work of art commissioned by the General Services Administration under the federal
Percent for Art program, which allocates a percentage of a project's budget to public art.
Calder unveiled the model for ''Flamingo'' on April 23, 1973 at the
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
; the sculpture was presented to the public for the first time on October 25, 1974, at the same time that Calder's ''Universe'' mobile was unveiled at the Sears Tower (now the
Willis Tower
The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), ...
). The day was proclaimed "Alexander Calder Day" and featured a circus parade.
Spatial relationships
Despite the massive size of the sculpture, its design is such that viewers can walk underneath and around it, thus enabling one to perceive it in human scale.
The shape of ''Flamingo'' alludes to the natural and animal realm, which is a stark contrast to more literal interpretations in sculpture from previous decades.
Calder's structure is a prominent example of the
constructivist movement, first popularized in Russia in the early 20th century. Constructivism refers to sculpture that is made from smaller pieces which are joined together.
A
maquette of the stabile was formerly displayed inside the Loop Station
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
in the Federal Plaza.
It currently resides in the Art Institute of Chicago's Modern Wing.
See also
*
List of public art in Chicago
The city of Chicago, Illinois, is home to many notable works of public art on permanent display in an outdoor public space.
References
External links
*
{{Public art in the United States
Art, Public
Chicag ...
* ''
Flying Dragon
''Flying Dragon'', known in Japan as , is a fighting game with role-playing video game elements that was developed by Culture Brain and released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998. Part of the '' Hiryƫ no Ken'' series, it was published in Japan by Cu ...
'', a nearby Calder sculpture also utilizing the color Calder red
References
External links
Entry in Inventory of American Sculpture/Save Outdoor Sculpture
{{Public art in Chicago
1974 sculptures
Outdoor sculptures in Chicago
Sculptures by Alexander Calder
Sculptures of birds in the United States
Steel sculptures in Illinois