St. Paul Sculptural Complex by George Sugarman
A bizarre and playful 1971 sculpture by George Sugarman at the entrance to Anchor Bank in downtown St. Paul at 5th and Minnesota Streets. It looks almost as if children cut out a bunch of colorful shapes and then suspended them above the entryway.
Update (June 9, 2008): St. Paul Sculptural Complex is gone. According to a Star Tribune article:
St. Paul’s most colorful downtown sculpture, a 17-ton melange of painted aluminum squiggles and blobs by George Sugarman, is heading to Texas. A cheerful landmark at the corner of 5th and Minnesota streets since 1971, the 44-piece sculpture is considered a modernist masterpiece potentially worth millions. First National Bank (now U.S. Bank) commissioned it, then disavowed ownership after selling the building, leaving the current owner — a real-estate investment firm — free to dispose of it. “It just didn’t have a place in the new image,” said Tanya Hemphill, manager of Cushman and Wakefield, which is upgrading the building. Hemphill said the building’s new owner, whose name she doesn’t know, plans to install new art by an unnamed artist sometime within the next year but “I can’t commit to a date.” Meanwhile, chunks of the Sugarman were hauled off this week for restoration and reinstallation in Austin, Texas. “This is just wrong, so wrong,” said Christine Podas Larson, founder of Public Art St. Paul, which raised $20,000 in an unsuccessful effort to keep the work in Minnesota.
(link via Across the Great Divide)
Update (July 2, 2009): This blog has more details on the scultpture and pictures of the deconstruction process.
Tags: abstract
