iconophilia nominates The Oldenburg Gate as the first Canberra Gateway Sculpture. This Claes Oldenburg Geometric Mouse (1969/71) suggests the surviving Patriarch of Pop has been watching the growth of monumentalism in Canberra with some dismay, and as an antidote to this tragic tendency he may be willing to offer this work as a suitable Gateway Sculpture for the City of Canberra.
Hypothetically, this work is available at any size, from Gateway scale to the flat-packed Paper version. And the maquette is already here in the NGA! So if the Chief Minister now advocates a direct approach to commissions, Jon, please don’t hold back…
See other examples of the Oldenburg here, here, and here, to appreciate the full potential of this piece. And yes, in Vienna, it is its own Museum.
PS Dear Chief Minister
If you can’t afford sculptures of international standing, your Gateway Sculptures proposal is a terrible idea!
If the $1.2m in the Budget are burning a hole in your pocket, here’s a much better plan. See how popular Sydney’s Sculpture by the Sea has become? So emulate it! On the interest on $1.2m you could fund a perpetual Sculpture Festival. Think of the fantastic spatial opportunities presented by the intersection of the Northbourne Avenue and The Pines – you could use these linear parklands as a potential venue. Educate the populace, and let them make their own aesthetic decisions. You never know, they might want to buy their favourites, and come to enjoy the event. As they do in Sydney.
Yours faithfully
Iconophilia@gmail.com
PPS How is it done elsewhere? See St Louis and its list of artists. Be envious.
PPPS Iconophilia is happy to host any other Gateway Sculpture proposals that may come forward from the vast inherited readership who’ve migrated from ArtWranglers…
PPPPS And as a special blog launch offer, the first twenty five subscribers to iconophilia will receive a free signed and numbered reproduction of the Oldenburg proposal drawing above.
