Clothespin | |
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Artist | Claes Oldenburg |
Year | 1976 |
Medium | steel sculpture |
Dimensions | 14 m× 3.73 m× 1.37 m(45 ft× 12 ft 3 in× 4 ft 6 in) |
Location | Philadelphia |
39°57′09″N75°09′56″W / 39.9524°N 75.1656°W [1] | |
Owner | private [2] |
Clothespin is a weathering steel sculpture by Claes Oldenburg, located at Centre Square, 1500 Market Street, Philadelphia. [2] It is designed to appear as a monumental black clothespin. Oldenburg is noted for his attempts to democratize art with large stylized sculptures of everyday objects, and the location of Clothespin, above Philadelphia's 15th Street/City Hall station, allows thousands of commuters to view it on a daily basis. [3] It was commissioned in May 1974 by developer Jack Wolgin as part of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority's percent for art program, and was dedicated June 25, 1976. [4] [5]
Made of Cor-Ten steel, Clothespin is praised by art critics for its velvety texture and weathered, warm reddish-brown color. [3] The silvery steel "spring" part of the two-textured work resembles the numerals "76", apt for the United States Bicentennial year. [6] Tying in Philadelphia's colonial heritage with its difficult present, Clothespin addresses the city's civic issues and tries to bridge gaps across income levels through its universally recognized form. [7] The design has been likened to the "embracing couple" in Constantin Brâncuși's sculpture The Kiss in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. [4]
There are at least two small-scale models of the sculpture. The first normally stays in the Oldenburg gallery at the Denver Art Museum: Clothespin – 4 Foot Version, completed in 1974. [8] The second, a 10-foot version completed in 1975, is located and occasionally displayed in the Contemporary Art department of the Art Institute of Chicago. [9]
Explains the artist: 'Its steel spring forms the figure 76.'