Lowell's Ocean
Lowell's Ocean
Artist
Mark di Suvero
(born 1933)
Date2005-2008
MediumSteel
Dimensions21ft. 4 in. x 40ft. 6 in. x 33ft. 6 in. (650.2 x 1234.4 x 1021.1 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2008.17
Accession number
2008.17
On View
On viewLabel TextNamed after Mark di Suvero’s long-time installation supervisor Lowell McKegney, “whose soul was as big as an ocean,” Lowell’s Ocean tests the physical limits of large-scale sculpture. It consists of crisscrossing I-beams and a massive spiral of steel that was cut from a single sheet. The object engages the space around it in a way that is both playful and monumental: a dynamic moment connecting earth and sky, frozen in time.
Di Suvero started working in metal after an accident left him partially immobile, making the physical requirements of woodworking too straining. By switching to metal and using industrial tools, he minimized his need for physical strength and was also able to increase the scale of his work. In 2010, di Suvero received the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists by the US Government.
